Notes From The Cave

T-Mobile has updated their Smartphone data plans so that they are consistent with their G1 data plan. Before I upgraded to the G1 I was on the Internet Access plan plus I bought 400 text messages a month for $4.95. Bottom line is that the move to the G1 plan, and the new Smartphone plan, have a bottom line result of no change to my bill. 

What I don’t understand is, if the Smartphone and G1 plans cost the same, then why even have two different plans? My theory is that while they are the same now, T-Mobile might increase the cost of the G1 plan once their 3G service has the same coverage as their Edge service. I hope I am wrong because at the moment I am paying no extra for faster data service, and paying lower than AT&T, Verizon and Sprint’s 3G service.

What I find really odd is the fact that the only real difference at the moment between the Smartphone and G1 plans is that the Smartphone service includes T-Mobile Hotspot access from any device (computer, Smartphone, etc..) while the G1 service only allows T-Mobile Hotspot access from the G1. Why? I don’t think G1 owners are going to particularly use more data on other computers than Smartphone users, and clearly T-Mobile already has the backend capability of allowing Hotspot access to users rather than to devices. I honestly don’t use T-Mobile Hotspot access too often, but it is a bit of an annoyance that T-Mobile took a capability away from me for no obvious reason.