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Virgin Mobile Unlimited Data – Not So Unlimited Anymore
As you probably know by now if you read HTMLCenter or CenterNetworks on a semi-regular basis, I am a happy user of the Virgin Mobile MiFi 2200 with their $40/month unlimited Broadband2Go plan. It’s been a fantastic resource over the last 5 or 6 months; enough so that I even canceled my satellite Internet service in favor of it. Unfortunately, that may be coming to an end very soon.
Virgin Mobile dispatched an e-mail earlier today informing me that the terms of the “unlimited” plan are going to change in February. No longer will the plan really offer unlimited data; instead, each plan will have a cap of 5 gigabytes/month. That’s pretty standard for a mobile broadband plan. However, instead of cutting off your service or charging you exorbitant amounts of extra fees for going over your cap, they’re going to follow the path laid out by satellite Internet providers. They’re going to reduce the speed of your service.
At this time, they haven’t really said what speeds we’re supposed to be getting on the current plan, nor what those speeds will become if we go over our 5 gigabyte cap.
The thing that concerns me most is the accuracy of their bandwidth tracking application. At one point last month, their website was reporting that I had used almost 5 terrabytes of bandwidth during the month (which is obviously way off). If the usage reporting is going to be that far off, I’m worried about how quickly they might think I’ve used up my 5 gigabytes.
In case you’re interested, here is the text of the message they sent out.
Here at Virgin Mobile, our mission is to deliver an outstanding customer experience. Sometimes that means making difficult choices in order to provide the best possible service to the greatest number of customers.
To make sure we can keep offering our $40 Unlimited Broadband2Go Plan at such a great price, we’re putting a speed limit in place for anyone on that plan who uses over 5GB in a month.
How will it work?
Starting February 15, 2011, if you go over 5GB in a month on the $40 Unlimited Plan:
- Your data speeds will be limited for the remainder of the monthly plan cycle. During this time, you may experience slower page loads and file downloads and lags in streaming media.
- Your data speeds will return to normal as soon as you buy a new Broadband2Go Plan.
- This change will only affect plans bought on or after 2/15/2011.
How will it affect me?
Keep in mind, 5GB is A LOT of data. To give you an idea, it’s about 250 hours of web browsing or over 500,000(!) emails*. So this change shouldn’t affect you unless you’re a heavy downloader/streamer/etc.
How will I know if I’m getting close to 5GB?
We’ve updated the progress bar in your Connection Manager to show the amount of data you’ve used. If you go above 5GB in a month, the bar will turn yellow, letting you know your data speeds will be reduced until you buy a new plan.
By putting this speed limit in place, we’re making sure we can deliver the same quality service you’ve come to expect from Broadband2Go. We hope you understand.
Thanks for being a Broadband2Go customer.
What I think about this decision of Virgin: ABUSIVE and cause me damage that I want to recover
I think about class action.
In doing so, Virgin break the essential lien of confidence with is customer. I decide to buy MIFI from Virgin base on their offer of unlimited plan for 40$. I don’t mind what is the usual 5 gigs of other broadband provider, I just care about what I decide to buy base on the offer was made to me.
I was far from thinking that after only 4 month, the service will substantially change. I consider that Virgin used my confidence to confidence me to buy the Mifi, but not only the MIFI, but 3 Internet radio and a Bridge to stream TV the Internet content. Yes MIFI is a great idea, but it not belong to Virgin.
The author want to know what will be the speed, there is answer directly from VIRGIN:
256K OR BELOW BELOW BELOW BELOW BELOW
read the letter:
Thanks for contacting Virgin Mobile Customer care.
In response to your concern, we are really sorry for the inconvenience. Broadband2Go Terms of Service have changed which potentially impact download and upload throughput speeds on the $40 Broadband2Go Plan when monthly data usage exceeds 5GB.
Customers will continue to have access to Broadband2Go service but maximum speeds may be limited to 256 kbps or below for the remainder of the monthly plan cycle. During this time, customers may experience slower page loads, file downloads and degraded streaming media. Throughput speeds will be restored when a new Broadband2Go Plan is purchased.
If you feel that the speed of your service is even lower, please contact our Broadband department at 1-877-877-8443 so that our Broadband specialists can help you with troubleshooting steps to restore the regular speed of your device.
Hope this helps, If you need additional assistance, feel free to let us know how we can assist further or contact us at 1-888-322-1122 (or *VM from your handset). You can reach us Monday through Sunday from 4am-9pm PST.
Thanks,
Jose
Virgin Mobile At Your Service
http://www.virginmobileusa.com
It time to fight back those giant that use us. My lost is several hundred of dollars since my Internet radio and TV streaming will become obsolete after 5 gigs
i’m curious… does this affect JUST Broadband2Go or does it also apply to Beyond Talk Plans? i can’t find anything online that says it applies to the phone services.
For me a limit of 5 GB is well within my usage since I do very little video watching.
The real gotcha for me is that, according to my understanding of the Broadband2Go Terms of Service dated 2011-01-12, the 40 GB unlimited (but slowed down after 5 GB) plan will permanently no longer be available to those of us that don’t get it renewed each month before the expiration date. I usually wait until after each month’s expiration before paying the next $40. If I do this just one more time on or after 2011-02-15, the $40 GB unlimited plan will no longer be available to me.
If the new $20/month for up to 1 GB plan were available to me, then I’d be a happy camper. But, alas, they say this is only for someone that bought the device (presumably the Virgin Mobile Ovation MC760 USB modem) at Walmart.
Reduce the speed? I’m a satisfied customer too, but it’s already pretty slow.