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What follows is a bit of a rant I’ve subjected friends to over the past few weeks. I’m not sure how reasonable it is, but it’s something that’s been on my mind. I’m airing it here because 1) it’s an appropriate outlet for such a vent, and 2) I’m wondering if anyone else feels the same way. It starts like this: I’ve come to be in a way dependent on my BlackBerry. Yeah yeah, you might say. Who isn’t? It’s not just an addiction, though? It’s a matter of convenience. Having my email push right to my BlackBerry affords me a level of flexibility I’ve grown accustomed to. Yet, I don’t need all aspects of the BlackBerry data service.
What I’m getting at is this: I only want email on my BlackBerry. You can cut out the browser. It’s nice, but it’s nothing but a luxury. Even with the BOLT browser, I’d still rather wait until I’m in front of a computer to take care of business. And since I have a laptop and carry it nearly everywhere with me, that usually isn’t a problem.
The issue, of course, is finding such a plan in the U.S. I pay $30 per month on top of my voice plan with Verizon to get data and BIS. Ideally, I’d like to pay $10 (or even $15 if I’m being unreasonable about the price) to have my email pushed to me. That’s it. In essence, it would be reducing my data allowance while also reducing the price of the plan. I’d still get the service I need, while cutting out what I consider a luxury.
I’ve wondered why carriers don’t offer this, and I’ve come up with a few obvious answers. One question I have, though, is of whether this would be a popular plan. Data services are popular, and carriers are eager to sign up customers. Would anyone be interested in a strictly-email BlackBerry plan if it cost you less per month?
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13 Comments ↓
Carriers do offer this. My wife and I have our plans through Rogers. I have the 6GB plan because I use the GPS all the time. My wife has the Personal plan where it just offers email and messaging.
Dude, T-Mobile is the answer to your rant. They have a $9.99 E-Mail only option I would have bought it for the wife, but I wanted to get the rebate ($15 minimum text/data charges) OF course, once you add in the $5 for 400 msgs, you’re golden.
Since this would eliminate so much of what makes my Blackberry a useful device (Viigo, Maps, Poynt, Slacker, etc.) I can’t see it for me. It might be ideal for the security conscious corporation though, since a lot of them have to pay even MORE for full BES and then they restrict all the other stuff by policy. Can’t say I see the carriers being much interested though since it would seriously drive down their ARPU.
Yes, T·Mobile does offer such a solution which Chip describes above. But DavidB makes an excellent point about data for other services (including Viigo, Google Maps, etc).
Are you be willing to pay-as-you-go for data? I would think that after a month or two you’d switch back to an all BB data plan. I know I would… and actually have in the past!
For 2 months we canceled our BB data plans and just used phone/text to communicate. I was left feeling like we were only using 20% of a powerful device.
Sprint also offers multiple tiers of plans, but you may need to inquire beyond their website for details.
Seems like a good idea to attract subscribers. Which, of course, means that verizon will not be offering it.
From a cost perspective, I would love a pay-as-you-go data option. Operators struggle at offering these due to the lack of potential recurring revenue (where data has higher arpu).
I’m with vzw and their $30 per month plan as well, email is my primary function, I wouldn’t mind a lesser email only tier. T-mobile is not an option for my from the voice perspective until their coverage is improved.
Supposedly BIS will let carriers offer tiered services like that of which you descibe. I say a plan for email could be as low as $5/m. That would be good for people who just want the email. Me personally like getting all the data. Otherwise I couldn’t post this from my Bold right now. ;-)
“Just email” holds no interest for me.
During our several day power outage in December (due to an ice storm), my BB was a lifesaver allowing me to get online. I could read local reports, blog, browse, twitter, and yes email because of my bb. I charged it via my car battery. We were only out of power for 3 days – but only having email would have been dreadful during that time. Besides, I use gmail on my BB and I can get to that via the browser if necessary (not the best way, but it is certainly doable).
The answer will be different for everyone. For those who need only email, they will never see the need for the rest of the data set. For those who use the BB data regularly or have used it during an emergency to get information, they will never understand tying yourself to email only.
Both options should be available so people can customize their data plans to suit their style.
Wireless companies don’t cater to a few rogue users who don’t use 95% of the functionality of their device, so an email only option doesn’t make sense for the vast majority of people. Furthermore, email is data. Email comes with attachments that you can view on your Blackberry. Would you like your carrier to strip the attachments and only deliver the messages to you in the email only scenario you describe?
You could go with T-Mobile, but as a former T-Mo customer, I wish you the best of luck getting coverage. I lived in Central FL and it stank there, it stank when I was in Reston, VA, it stinks for everyone I know in NYC… you get the picture. T-Mo sells its services cut rate because their coverage is sparse compared to the other major carriers.
If anything, the carriers should lower the cost of their BIS only plans, because they’re a little too high. I think $15-20 is the perfect price point for unlimited BIS.
I would really rather have the full service. Not having the full service is like having limits (prepaid) I dnt like those limits. Lol!
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Not that you’d want to switch carriers but T-Mobile has such a plan. $10.00 for unlimited Blackberry email. That’s it, nothing more. T-Mobile offers the most flexible Blackberry options of any carrier I’ve seen. That’s why I love them. Highly recommended them. But please keep in mind this was an option offered to me 6 months ago when I went back to T-Mobile, but I’m sure they still have this option available.
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