The great Data plan con

So you have a superduper Smartphone – check

You have a data plan for said phone – check

So now you have treated yourself to a tablet or laptop and want to use it out and about but wait, the mobile companies want to charge you separately for this, or if you want to use your superduper Smartphone to tether they want you to pay a separate charge. Heck AT&T in the US have what has to be the craziest plan for tethering and I have had to read several sites to make sure that I understand it properly.

First of all you have to be signed up for their DataPro plan at $25, their unlimited plan used to be $30, but this new one has a limit of 2GB.

If you want to tether then you have to stump up a further $20 and here is the real kicker, you don't get any extra bandwidth for this extra payment just the ability tether, you still have the same 2GB allowance. They are charging you twice to use the same data, unbelievable.

In the UK things a little better but not much you have to pay a tethering charge but at least you get some extra bandwidth, Vodafone currently charge £5 for 500MB.

However should we really be charged extra? Surely if my plan has a limit of 1GB I should be able to use it however I want, after all I am paying for it? Can you imagine if your broadband ISP wanted to charge you extra if you wanted to use wireless at home or charged you per device? No you can't there would be civil unrest.

Yet we let the mobile companies do this, it's crazy. Come on someone offer one data plane that I can use on my phone/tablet/laptop or any other way I want, this is long over due.

I would like to point out that this is not universal across the board, most Android phones ship with a mobile hotspot feature and can be used as a modem without a extra charge. But have a close look at the T&C's of your mobile contract and I bet you will find a clause that forbids you from using your phone as a modem.