But increasingly, data plans are becoming more granular still – a trend likely to continue as we gain new device form factors. iPhone and iPad plans are specific to those products – and easily enforceable (for now) through the use of MicroSIMs which cannot be swapped around. MiFi products, which are inherently multi-device tethers, may also be subject to different plans.
As an example, take 3UK
- iPad MicroSIM only plans: 1GB @ £7.50 / month or 10GB @ £15 / month [1-month rolling]
- Laptop SIM-only plan : 5GB @ £15 / month
- Handset SIM-only Internet plan : 1GB @ £5 / month (which also includes circuit-based Skype calling)
The interesting thing here is that, in essence, we are getting a sort of blurry policy management and mobile traffic management by the back door. Although the correlations are not perfect, typical iPhone usage is different to typical BlackBerry usage, or assorted other products. Less / more video, less / more social networking , less / more web browsing, more / fewer notifications and so on. It’s quite easy to skew the prices and tiers to favour the less network-hungry products – or implicitly reward manufacturers for creating “non-aggressive” devices that don’t hammer the RNCs with signalling traffic so much.
What’s less clear is whether prioritising *device types* traffic is the same in terms of Net Neutrality as prioritising *application types*. Is it fair, reasonable or legal to distinguish between them? Even if they are not dynamically prioritised, it could be possible to rate-limit them - for example peak speeds of 1Mbit/s download vs. 3MBit/s. Under absolute purist views on Net Neutrality, it would probably also fall foul of the strict rule-making. But as we perhaps move towards some more negotiated, nuanced, intermediate arrangements, this is one particular Devil that should be included in the detail.
It's certainly much easier to distinguish between device types than application types in the network.
There are also some interesting wrinkles about what happens when users SIM-swap. I already do this, putting my dongle SIM into a vanilla phone when roaming as the prices are better, and I’m never going to run my laptop over 3G in a foreign country under any circumstances. There are also interesting issues about what happens when new apps are released that change consumption profile – or a major OS/firmware upgrade. In other words, there’s a policy management and enforcement angle as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment