So T-Mobile got itself some headlines and most people bought the line that at last here was affordable all-you-can-eat GPRS in the UK. But it's not quite true.
Now, I'm not singling out T-Mobile here, they've done better than any of the other network operators and are to be commended for at least thinking in the right direction. But it's worth taking a moment to look at the tariff in detail and to examine the small print on the sign-up page:
"Fair use policy applies: Relax web ‘n’ walk and Flext web ‘n’ walk price plans provide unlimited internet surfing on mobile handsets in the UK. To ensure a high quality of service for all our customers, they are not to be used for other activities such as (but not limited to): modem access for computers, internet based video/audio streaming services, peer to peer file sharing, internet based video download and internet based telephony. If such use is detected, notice may be given, after which network protection controls may be applied which will result in a reduced speed of transmission.
Web ‘n’ Walk Professional is subject to a minimum term contract and credit check. Compatible handset or device required. To ensure a high quality of service for all our customers, a fair use policy applies. T-Mobile defines fair use as total UK data use (both sent and received) of up to 2GB per month. T-Mobile may contact customers who exceed this volume of data in two (or more) consecutive months in any six month period to ask them to reduce their usage. If usage is not reduced, notice may be given, after which network protection controls may be applied which will result in a reduced speed of transmission. Use of Voice over Internet Protocol and Messaging over Internet Protocol is prohibited by T-Mobile. If use of either or both of these services is detected T-Mobile may terminate all contracts with the customer and disconnect any SIM cards and/or web ‘n’ walk cards from the T-Mobile network."
So essentially, all you can do is browse web pages and collect email. The actual bandwidth isn't that crucial, as 2GB is an awful lot to get through. But, let's get this straight, you're not allowed to use your handset for data use with a laptop, you can't stream video (so out goes ROK TV and similar services) or download video clips and you can't do any VoIP. And that dreaded phrase "but not limited to" no doubt means that T-Mobile will frown on the increasingly large number of applications which use the Internet directly, such as Google Local for Mobile. With satellite imagery turned on, this can easily burn through the megabytes. Then there's direct audio downloads (does this count as streaming?), picture blog uploads, and so on: where does T-Mobile stand on all these?
In fairness to T-Mobile, they do use the word 'unlimited' in immediate conjunction with 'surfing', perhaps implying that other activity isn't so unlimited, but most people will see the word 'unlimited' and think "Aha, now I'm in business" without realising the limitations. Now, it's possible that Web 'n' Walk users will be allowed to use Google Earth, buy some music tracks, listen to Internet radio and watch limited amounts of Internet TV without getting stomped on from a great height by T-Mobile's network managers, we don't know how much the fair use policy will be enforced, but it would be nice to do all this with a clear green light showing.
There's also the fact that Web 'n' Walk is an option over and above an existing monthly tariff and isn't an option at all for pay-as-you-go voice users. Like me. I only make a couple of short voice calls a week but would love to use Internet-savvy applications on my smartphone without worrying about the exorbitant data costs.
What's needed is a true unlimited GPRS/3G Data tariff that can be applied to any account, monthly or pay-as-you-go. The first network provider that offers this, for - say - £20 a month, gets my vote and my money. Instantly. I know the networks are worried about some people using Internet streaming services and hogging all the bandwidth, but this is to an extent self-regulating as a busy network means lower throughput and this means a worse experience for streaming users, so they'll use the system less. Besides, with the extra revenue from all the people like me, finally signing up for a serious data tariff, they'll be able to invest and expand their infrastructure to cope with higher use.