Have you heard? Unlimited data plans are making a comeback!
The Internet of Things
10 types of enterprise deployments
As businesses continue to experiment with the Internet of Things, interesting use cases are emerging. Here are some of the most common ways IoT is deployed in the enterprise.
This week’s trend was kicked off by Verizon announcing the return of its unlimited price plan, as an answer to T-Mobile and Sprint’s recent unlimited announcements. Within days of Verizon’s announcement, T-Mobile and Sprint naturally followed by doing some revamping of their own.
Finally, AT&T late Thursday afternoon announced an unlimited offering of its own.
Wading through any wireless carrier’s website can cause headaches and lead to frustration. The sites, it seems, are designed to be confusing when it comes to digging through price plans and reading fine print.
Instead of doing it yourself, I’ve spent the last few hours clarifying and trying to get the to bottom of just what is included in each of the major US carrier’s wireless plan.
| T-Mobile | Verizon | Sprint | AT&T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 line | $70 | $80 | $50 | $100 |
| 2 lines | $100 | $140 | $90 | $140 |
| 3 lines | $140 | $162 | $90 | $180 |
| 4 lines | $160 | $190 | $90 | $180 |
| Taxes/Fees included | Yes | No | No | No |
| AutoPay required | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Throttling limit | 28GB | 22GB | 23GB | 22GB |
| Hotspot | 10 GB | 10 GB | 10 GB | No |
| HD video | Yes (1080p) | Yes (1080p) | Yes (1080p) | No (480p) |
| Expiration | No | No | March 31, 2018 | No |
| Roaming | Unlimited service in Canada/Mexico, 2G data globally | 500MB per day of 4G LTE roaming in Mexico and Canada | Unlimited text and 2G data w/LTE GSM-capable device. | Unlimited talk, text, and data in Canada and Mexico. |
It’s disappointing AT&T has essentially removed the DirecTV requirement it used to have for its unlimited plan, and left it more or less the same, instead of adding hotspot and HD video streaming to remain competitive.
For the most part, pricing and capabilities included is nearly identical for T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon. The biggest differentiator between the other three going to be coverage by each respective carrier in your area.
