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4G Data Costs Examined Closer

25th October 2012
  [caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="300"]The cheapest 4G data plan is found to be lacking. The cheapest 4G data plan is found to be lacking.[/caption] 4G is launching in the UK on the 30th October with EE ( Everything Everywhere – which owns Orange and T-Mobile ) and prior to the launch the details of a number of things have been confirmed. We know exactly which cities will have a 4G network going live at launch, we know exactly which 4G phones, 4G tablets and 4G mobile devices will be available at launch and this week we found out all about EE's mobile data pricing plans. The 4G data pricing is one of the key areas that many potential buyers will focus on prior to committing to a lengthy 4G phone contract. Luckily, EE have produced a nice visual plan for us to look at. This is shown above and shows the five plans and costs in the left vertical column and the activities recommended via each plan in the top horizontal column. Basically, there are five plans and these start at 500MB for a cost of £36 per month and the highest data allowance plan at 8GB costs £56 a month. This is for a 2 year contract and comes with unlimited calls and texts and access to BT-Wi-Fi is included. EE have produced the above visual to help people decide which data plan is best for them. 4G.co.uk thought we’d look closer at the cheapest option and see whats possible on the 500MB plan. EE themselves highlight that the 500MB plan is recommended for Email and Web only. With the 500MB data allowance you can do ONE of the following before your data allowance is consumed for the month. - You can send 1000 emails ( with photos attached ) OR - Visit 1,500 websites such as the BBC OR - Download 12 high quality sound tracks OR - Watch 60 short videos   It’s important to note that you can only have one of the above or your allowance is consumed and you would then need to buy a “data add on”. 5MB will cost £3 and 500MB costs £6. The view at 4G.co.uk is that the whole point of having a 4G phone working on a 4G network ( which is five times faster than 3G ) is to download web pages and files. When we say files we mean large files and full HD movies. The 500MB data allowance is highly unsuitable for this so we see no point in anyone taking out this option unless you just want unlimited texts and voice calls and will do everything else via BT Wi-Fi which is included for free.

Company director for our 4 websites as follows: 

  • 3G.co.uk 
  • 4G.co.uk
  • 5G.co.uk 
  • SIMOnly.co.uk

Kevin Thomas has worked for companies AT&T and BT with 15 years practical experience in the world of telecoms. He has a HND in telecommunications.

Kevin has also  worked in the world of Telecom reporting for 18 years. He has joint responsibility for 3G.co.uk and SIMOnly.co.uk and is lead Director for 5G.co.uk.

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