Home Forums FineTunedMac Community Lounge Cell phone plans & costs

For well over a decade I have attempted — IN VAIN — to acquire an understanding of how cell phone plans work and are costed. A central theme seems to revolve around the notion of "data" which seems to have no comprehensible definition.

No matter whom I consult — from cell phone plan providers to cell phone kiosk operators to (otherwise) intelligent users — I cannot get a proper explanation. Highly intelligent university professors and their ilk cannot explain "data" or how such is calculated to arrive at a cost for a plan ... and blithely carry on — blowing hundreds of dollars a year on cell phone, cable and internet services. To me it's like buying a pig in a poke. If plan providers cannot properly explain what they do and offer, they're merely scam artists. (Every time I hear of a unanticipated multi-thousand-dollar cell phone bill, it blows me away.) So-called "full disclosure" seems to be anathema and anomaly in the industry.

Up front:
I have no interest in getting a cell phone ~ smartphone, all aspects of which are excessively costly, in addition to which I find the prospect of being "tethered" to a recharger unpleasant in the extreme; the same holds true for cable services.
My access to the "outside world" is via copper-wired landline telephone and OTA TV service. My telephone costs are clear-cut: X dollars per month for service (and associated costs, such 911 service); long distance service via discount provider.

If anyone who frequents these forums can provide a straight-forward explication of cell phone and cable service offerings qua jargon and/or guide to same, I'd be most appreciative.

Lordie, I miss the good ol' days of tin cans connected with a (taut) string for interpersonal communication, not to mention matchbox crystal sets to bring in radio stations. Where is Groucho Marx when you really need him?! Gleef.


PS Putin is in need of ending like Mussolini.

I am sure there are legal definitions, but to keep it simple, try the following…

PHONE: voice communications primarily traveling via the telephone company copper wire network (although it can include voice only via internet). Very low bandwidth and demand on the telco network and addressed via a telephone number.
TEXT: SMS and MMS text messages (like voice, a service designed to travel over the telco's copper wire network and addressed with a telephone number).
DATA: Everything else including and images, streaming content, basically what is routed via the internet and addressed via a URL or IP number.

Thanks. All well and good, but my concern/dilemma is trying to determine what a plan means (especially in terms of cost) by (say) 20GB of data or 2GB of free US data or anything else which makes reference to "data".
How much "data" is a 2-hour movie (for example)? Not one of my colleagues/friends/relatives can tell me anything of relevance — other than they seem to be able to stay within their "data" limits or they get charged outrageous overage fees.
How does one track "data" usage in order not to be charged penalties in any given plan?
If one has internet service or simply landline telephone service, the costs are fixed/predictable. This is decidedly NOT the case when something called "data" is added to the mix. And service providers — robber barons — can't or won't share such information with customers.
As I previously said, it's like buying a pig in a poke — which I consider to be fraud and hence criminal (but apparently anybody who has such plans does not and is perfectly/blissfully happy to throw money out of their car window on the freeway).
O weh ist mir!

You are correct in thinking the allocation and cost for data is a lot of smoke and mirrors by telecommunication giants. However, to extend joemikeb's definitions from a smartphone perspective, something is "data" that has an associated "cost" only if it is consumed via the cellular network; i.e., the telecommunication company's system. If it is consumed via an Internet connection, it does not count against the consumer's data allotment. Since most people are doing data stuff where there is wi-fi and hence, an internet connection, there is no charge for the data. That's probably why most of your contacts are able to stay within their data limits. Most company's allow you to see your data consumption for which you would be charged via your account on their web site.

Your other question, how much data does a 2-hour movie use can be answered by checking out this data calculator. It also calculates for other activities, like streaming music. For example, if you are using Netflix to stream a two hour movie then you will use about 2 GB in standard definition. You will use about 6 GB to stream in high definition or 14 GB for a two hour movie in 4K. But keep in mind that if you are streaming over wi-fi, it is not "data" as such.

Also appreciate that some companies now offer unlimited data, although that type of plan could be more costly than others.

Point well taken, but as a practical matter and particularly where streaming media is concerned there are so many variables it could potentially take several pages to list all the price options. The same content can easily double or quadruple in size depending on the options including...

• color depth (8 bit, 12 bit, 16bit),
• original image size,
• image resolution (HD, 4K, etc.)
• data compression algorithm if any,
• audio fidelity
• stereo
• and the list of factors goes on and on and… well you get the idea

The same video file will be wildly different sizes on iCloud, a Mac, an iPad, and iPhone because it is "optimized" for display on the particularly device.

(That is at least part of the reason behind the trend of the telcos to contract with streaming services for free access to their content). You may also notice that streaming services will often have different prices to rent/buy the same movie based on a few of the same factors.

Many thanks, guys, for clearing up some of the morass surrounding "data" and associated costs.

I'm now convinced more than ever that the various opaque aspects of the "industry" are so far beyond my ken that I'll continue to save scads of money (and aggravation) by avoiding the "robber barons".
• DVDs are my preferred modality for viewing movies.
• OTA access to TV stations works just fine for me, plus my being able to record 2 channels at a time, as well as watch one at the same time, via my ChannelMaster DVR+ with 1 TB of memory (Channel Master, Gilbert AZ 85233).
• Landline telephone is all I need (especially when I mostly get scam/spam/phishing calls).

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

I'm with you with everything that you listed.

Is landline still around Around here the local telco is busily replacing their copper wire plant with fiber connected neighborhood 5G towers for telephone and television. It is too soon to have a real idea of performance but their best plans offer about 25% of the bandwidth I get with cable.

The advantage of a (copper) landline, at least in this neck of the woods, is that when the power goes out, the landline does not. During the major fires the last couple of years cell phone towers went out, either because the battery backup generators ran out of fuel or the tower burned.

In our neck of the woods, the landline also stopped working after a few days of a power outage. Verizon, the local phone company, uses backup batteries in their power stations and they eventually run down. In any event, Verizon sends a truck with a generator to recharge the batteries as necessary. I concur that a landline is a GOOD THING to have.

Yup, we have one.