Capitalist cat demands payment.
It looks like the open and unlimited mobile internet experience could be coming to a close in the United States.
Leaked slides from a presentation by Allot Communications and Openet show that the wireless industry is plotting to force its customers to pay additional monthly fees per web page accessed and in some cases MB used. One of the slides in the leaked document (PDF) suggests a $0.50 USD/month YouTube access fee, a $0.02 USD/MB Facebook access rate, and a 3€ (appr. $3.95 USD) Skype access fee, all while access and traffic to Vodafone’s alternative websites will be free. Not too fair for healthy internet competition.
Relevant slide.
But as alarming as the change sounds, I’m not too worried as long as home internet connections will remain untouched. Mobile internet is not a necessary utility that people can’t exist without. So even if its pricing/policies get out of control, there’s always the option to just leave the mobile net market and use Wi-Fi connections for mobile surfing needs.
