walt12: ... I would be hoping to pay not much more than $10-12 per month for this, twice as much is getting a bit expensive, and I find myself shutting off data services from time to time to save data. Not ideal.
There's also the effect on the economy in general. When mobile data is expensive, people switch it off, and just don't use it nothing happens -- new services will not be built, innovation doesn't happen, and the economy as a whole looses in new startups, businesses, jobs, competitive edges, etc.
Back in 2006-2007 when our local carriers started mobile data, it was charges as data packages (xx Mbytes/month) with extra charge for going over it. Some folks here and there had it, perhaps as part of the company deal they had with the carrier, and most advanced people had just the minimum for their basic needs. In 2007 the flat-rate packages arrived and the usage went from 10% in 2006 to 17% in 2007 and, boom, to around ~50% in 2008 (% of subscriptions). This also lead to a number of mobile-oriented services to become available.
