Live data from Hacker News

In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

twitter.com

71–80 of 191 posts

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#71
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You also got charged for spam SMS Wait what? They charge you for receiving text messages or am I not reading that right? Do they also charge you to receive phone calls haha?

Yes. In the US, cellular calls are charged by air time so you pay for incoming calls as well. I think all plans are unlimited these days though.

there are still 'per minute' plans. I still have one for a family member's "emergency" phone.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#72
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You also got charged for spam SMS Wait what? They charge you for receiving text messages or am I not reading that right? Do they also charge you to receive phone calls haha?

Yes. In the US, cellular calls are charged by air time so you pay for incoming calls as well. I think all plans are unlimited these days though.

My plan has unlimited text, but only 100 minutes of talk (which is almost always plenty).

My Mom is still on a strict per minute plan, with a stored value plan though. I think she gets free incoming text, but has to pay for calls or texts she sends.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#73
post #5
post #4

> Over here, unlimited mobile data means unlimited mobile data. This. Although India has the cheapest data next to Finland, the ground reality is quite different. I tried using 4G as my primary internet connection after COVID, and I got frustrated by "hidden" limits and random throttling from the ISP - ended up getting a fiber line. The 4G modem was a complete waste of money.

I really wish the US could institute some legal framework against deceptive advertising. Unlimited should mean unlimited, not throttled. If you are offering a 20GB plan, just say you are offering a 20GB plan. I've tried to use a 4G hotspot to setup my laptop and do work in outdoor parks but the number of times I can do that per month is limited.

Nothing is infinite however. The concept of unlimited is never correct without disclaimers.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#74
I'm on the T-Mobile Connect 2GB plan with unlimited talk and text. I was paying $50 a month for basically the same plan but thanks to one of the Sprint/T-Mobile merger conditions they have to offer it for $15 now.

I don't like to watch video on my phone, I almost never hit the 2GB limit unless I try.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#75
post #4

> Over here, unlimited mobile data means unlimited mobile data. This. Although India has the cheapest data next to Finland, the ground reality is quite different. I tried using 4G as my primary internet connection after COVID, and I got frustrated by "hidden" limits and random throttling from the ISP - ended up getting a fiber line. The 4G modem was a complete waste of money.

Indian here. I just use the 3GB/day plan + 50GB top-ups when required. I get a constant 40-50Mbps. My monthly average is around 100GB. Internet cost is around $8 for 55 days. 50GB top-ups cost an extra $4.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#76
post #57

UK here. I pay £20/month (USD $26) for unlimited data, voice and SMS. I have two such SIMs, one for the home router (because it's cheaper and faster than FTTC) and another for my phone. Usage varies, but on a busy month the home SIM will see 100-300 GB, mostly for Netflix. The phone SIM sees about 10-30 GB. Speed varies by time of day, but at peak it's 90 Mbit/s down, 20 Mbit/s up. At the slowest times of day it drop…

as another data point: my FTTC was basically perfect, 110mbit sync, dropped maybe three times a year

I was sort of sad to replace it with FTTP, which has been slightly more unreliable

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#77
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really wish the US could institute some legal framework against deceptive advertising. Unlimited should mean unlimited, not throttled. If you are offering a 20GB plan, just say you are offering a 20GB plan. I've tried to use a 4G hotspot to setup my laptop and do work in outdoor parks but the number of times I can do that per month is limited.

Nothing is infinite however. The concept of unlimited is never correct without disclaimers.

That's just a distinction between "as much data as you _want_" and "as much data as you're _able_" to download though. I think the latter fits better into a common understanding of the term "unlimited" as it pertains to data usage, especially when the pricing tiers are explicitly based on max throughput and thus have an implicit max data transfer volume.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a decade ago, SMS messages in the US cost 10 to 25 cents per SMS . You also got charged for spam SMS. Prices were completely disjointed from the reality of underlying costs (zero for the telcos). My college CS professor gave senate testimony on this: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/keshav_testim... (side rant: in the following ten years, the tech giants sweeped in, competed, provided a better serv…

>You also got charged for spam SMS Wait what? They charge you for receiving text messages or am I not reading that right? Do they also charge you to receive phone calls haha?

Yes, even now you'll still see a notice in many places if they ask you to opt-in to receiving their text messages, notifying you that you may be charged for them. I guess some plans may still have limits.

And yep, they charged for calls you received too: You might get 500 minutes of talk time under a given plan, and incoming calls counted against that. I think my first cell phone plan in 2001 was about $50/month for 400 minutes, no texting because I couldn't afford a phone that supported it or the added cost in the plan.

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#79
post #72
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. In the US, cellular calls are charged by air time so you pay for incoming calls as well. I think all plans are unlimited these days though.

My plan has unlimited text, but only 100 minutes of talk (which is almost always plenty). My Mom is still on a strict per minute plan, with a stored value plan though. I think she gets free incoming text, but has to pay for calls or texts she sends.

Checkout Mint Mobile: $15/month if you prepay for a year otherwise $20. You get unlimited talk and texts, 4GB data. https://www.mintmobile.com/

Re: In Finland the average amount of data transferred per SIM card is 17.3GB/month

#80
See, I just see that as wildly inefficient. Why do I need to stream videos on the go? If I listen to music, why wouldn't I have it locally?

My usage is usually right around 1 GB a month, and I'm constantly on my phone, social media, browsing, etc.

Post reply on HN