42 LISTENER MARCH 14 2020
G
ET
TY
IM
AG
ES
I
f results of a survey commissioned by Vodafone
are to believed, we may need to update
Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs.
Market-research agency Colmar Brunton
asked 1000 Kiwi mobile users about their phone
habits and found that data came in just behind
toilet paper, petrol, milk and bread in regards to
essentials they most feared running out of.
Mobile data has always been sold and marketed
as a scarce commodity. Although we used to pay
20c a text message and 80c a minute or more to
make a mobile call, those plans have long since
taken the all-you-can-eat route.Data has been the holdout, though more
expensive plans have emerged with “unlimited”
data included, but the download speed slows after a
certain threshold of gigabytes is reached.
Vodafone’s move last week to introduce a range
of pay-monthly plans, with “endless data” included
for all of them, is the first move to mainstream the
concept of unlimited mobile data.
The plans range in price from $40 to $100 a
month and include unlimited data, texting and
calling. Crucially, you can set your phone up as a
Wi-Fi hotspot to share your internet connection
with other devices, such as a laptops, smart TVs,
tablets and other smartphones.
Other unlimited plans have typically excluded
hotspotting or charged an extra $10 a month forthe privilege. The big catch with
the new plans, though, is that after
a certain download threshold is
reached, your connection speed slows
down.
For the “Small” plan, that happens
after you’ve used 4GB of data; the
$80 “Large” plan kicks in after 40GB
of data use. At that point, your
connection
is slowed
to 1.2Mbps
(megabits per
second). That’s
still enough to
stream music,
send Facebook
messages and
surf the web, but
it won’t reliably
work for the one
thing we are
doing a lot more
of on our mobiles – streaming video.
Netflix, for instance, recommends a
5Mbps connection for high-definition
video and 3Mbps for standard, or
DVD-quality, video. So, forget the
prospect of ditching your home
broadband connection and going
all-mobile unless you want to stump
up $80-100 a month. You’ll probably
blow through that data threshold
and see your speed throttled to a
frustratingly slow level.
Still, Vodafone’s move is likely
to tip the whole market towards
treating unlimited data as the norm,albeit with speed restrictions. At the
moment, Vodafone’s rivals Spark and
2degrees offer unlimited data plans
for $80 and $85 each respectively.
Spark adds on $10 to allow hotspot-
ting and both throttle back the data
speed when you reach 40GB.T
he key to getting the best value
is knowing how much data
you are likely to use in a given
month. I always overestimate what
I need. I have a Skinny prepaid plan
that, for $47 a month, gets me 12GB
of rollover data and unlimited calling
and texting. I checked the Skinny app
recently and I have 108GB of rollover
data available.
That means I’m not using my
full allowance each month, mainly
because whenever I’m at home, I’m
on my Wi-Fi connection, which uses
my home-broadband connection’s
data instead of Skinny’s.
It may well be that a monthly
10-12GB full-speed data plan is
actually better than Vodafone’s
endless data deals where you face that
speed reduction.
Some mobile operators also let youbuy extra data for a short period of
time. 2degrees has its Data Clock,
which gives you unlimited data access
for a set period – 15 minutes will cost
you 40c, 12 hours will cost $4. Skinny
recently introduced a $20 plan where
you can add unlimited data as well as
unlimited calling and texting for one
week. That’s great if you are planning
a Netflix binge or need to work
remotely for a few days.
The data pipe is starting to flow
more freely, but check your mobile
data usage to make sure an endless
supply is actually worth it. lForget the prospect of ditching
your home broadbandconnection and going all-
mobile unless you want to
stump up $80-100 a month.Data, data,
everywhere
New mobile data
deals mean it’s getting
harder to work out
what’s best.
by Peter Griffin
TECHNOLOGY
THIS LIFE
Binge worthy: slow
data speeds could
hamper your
Netflix marathon.