AT&T data limits to apply to 3G MicroCell
June 18, 2010 - By Justin E. Gehrke
You may recall that, back on March 24, 2010, GSL reported on AT&T’s new 3G MicroCell service. It seems both the company and the technology are back in the news, albeit for all the wrong reasons.
According to findings first identified by Peter Jarich, Research Director for Current Analysis, the data used by subscribers of the Femtocell-based service will count against their monthly data quota (200 MB and 2 GB, depending upon the user’s plan).
While initially unconfirmed, an AT&T spokesperson has since comfirmed it to be fact, in an email response to Light Reading Mobile. According to AT&T, the device is intended for voice calls. The fact that it does support data usage, as well, doesn’t mean it intended as a substitute for a user’s third-party Broadband/Wi-Fi connection.
For those who aren’t familiar with the technology, here’s how it works. A small box designed to work like your typical Wi-Fi router, the femtocelldevice transmits cellular signals that cell phones with AT&T service can use to increase the reception in indoor spaces.
Customers simply connect the femtocell device to their home’s broadband modem. The innovation in the technology is that the femtocell actually picks up the signal, from the cell phone and transmits it through the broadband internet connection. From there, the modem’s wireless access point broadcasts the cellular signal. Essentially, the broadband modem just became a pint-sized cellular tower.
Understanding how 3G MicroCell works is essential to grasping why including data usage passed through it is completely illogical. Basically, one pays $20 per month for the Femtocell service, plus their regular monthly voice/data charges. This means that voice service passed through the device is unlimited, but data passed through it counts toward one’s monthly limit.
In a logical world, the additional $20 per month would include both voice and data. Add to it the fact that one is technically using their third-party broadband provider to lighten the load on AT&T’s wireless infrastructure, and a policy of potentially charging customers for data overages becomes even more nonsensical.
For many customers whose in-home signal is weak, the device is miraculous. On our previous post, one customer raves about it saying that it took them up to five bars. For these people, data may not even be a consideration. They simply want a good voice connection. For data hogs (Think: iPhone 3G/4 and iPad 3G owners), the service represents a potential bill increaser and will have to be used sparingly, at best.
