Sunday, April 28, 2013

Faster surfing, but will data caps be busted?

My Paper, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Page A6, News, Mobileplan
Source Website: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local-News/Faster-surfing-but-will-data-caps-be-busted-158631
By ADRIAN LIM, adrainl@sph.com.sg, 24/04/2013 on mypaper


Telcos Mobile 3G & 4G speed
PHOTO: Telcos Mobile 3G & 4G speed
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje9GA6okYcOHCOx2ZwrQsMd107fOn375tn5LHfTyAJKSrj3DFEqv3ak51pnPFtb-CLSVv2PqHXmDv1nBwAHOqKRW5WgCIZi3fjx1AHrAGXkRkAF1_oGv39PhghNTlMtQJ22C66aFBFp2M/s1600/Faster+surfing,+but+will+data+caps+be+busted.jpg
My Paper, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Page A6, News, Mobileplan


Online download speeds for SingTel 3G mobile-phone customers are set to double, going up to 42Mbps, at no extra charge, the telco said yesterday.

This makes SingTel the second telco here to offer this faster 3G speed, after StarHub did so last September.

SingTel's 3G users will be progressively upgraded from up to 21Mbps, to the faster speed over the next few months, and will be notified through text messages.

Still, some consumers worry that while mobile download speeds are getting faster, there has largely been no change in the status quo where the caps on how much data they can consume online are concerned.


Some of the cheapest 4G plans by the telcos - which can hit higher speeds of up to 75Mbps - still offer a data limit of 2GB, despite similar but slower 3G plans also having the same data cap.
PHOTO: Some of the cheapest 4G plans by the telcos - which can hit higher speeds of up to 75Mbps - still offer a data limit of 2GB, despite similar but slower 3G plans also having the same data cap.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxhVUFFFSYhNEQdeoQSrpnfqIEmMGY-G3x0npO3rXIdWCNBzjAyle_UTsWT-AGPMh36-ocXuPmRHp3443UEI20m8_cIwpBOkxsDeHfDa5OM_HkXMCTlAIOuJTBzZCQRK00q_2rbCeY_I/s1600/95424520-09084906.jpg
http://blogs.twincities.com/yourtechweblog/files/2012/03/95424520-09084906.jpg
http://blogs.twincities.com/yourtechweblog/2012/03/page/2/


Some of the cheapest 4G plans by the telcos - which can hit higher speeds of up to 75Mbps - still offer a data limit of 2GB, despite similar but slower 3G plans also having the same data cap.

Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, chief executive of SingTel's consumer division here, also said the telco does not intend to change its data caps for its 3G plans, even after doubling download speeds up to 42Mbps.

Mr Andrew Sumarli, 21, a private-university student, said there is concern that with faster speeds, the data cap could be more easily breached if a user does not keep close tabs.

Busting the limit incurs extra charges, although these are now capped at between $60 and $100 per month.

But Mr Sumarli, who racked up an $80 bill once for exceeding his data cap, is now more conscious, adding that "I have got into the habit now of using Wi-Fi whenever I can, so I don't use up my mobile data".


Monitor Your Data Usage

PHOTO: Monitor Your Data Usage
Before you start trying to reduce your data usage you should first find out how your data is being used by your Android apps. If you have Android 4.0 (ICS) + you phone has a built in app for this.
Go to  Settings > Data Usage
Set the limit to 1.0GB and Set a warning slight below that (750MB) to warning if your getting near to the limit.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8LT9Q5xmInMeXFIbH4iNfuirk2-6MEr3Wc-dx4x3AgYJiti2w1aZ6szrxtW8lda8rK2j4tl75TP-1FLIalhbGIDFOWLCcSg895nqyp1HwqPzXlFEGg9_H3_Ad3LVZ4O88aI7vmkx2kU/s1600/original.jpg
http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/25486i470FB9BC3F963100/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&px=-1
http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/giffgaff-Top-Tips/The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Reducing-Data-Usage-on-an-Android/td-p/6505956


The telcos now also have apps and services to let users monitor their data usage.

Mr Yuen yesterday also said that SingTel has doubled its islandwide street-level 4G speeds up to 150Mbps but devices that can support these speeds will be available only from the second half of the year.

By ADRIAN LIM, adrainl@sph.com.sg, 24/04/2013 on mypaper



HELPDESK
我的字典: Wǒ de zì diǎn
 
Progressively: 逐渐地 zhú jiàn de
Caps: 上限 shàng xiàn
keep close tabs: 看紧 kān jǐn
Monitor: 监测 jiān ce



Reference
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