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Three scraps UK's last unlimited tethering package [ICT Monitor Worldwide](ICT Monitor Worldwide Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The UK's last mobile phone tariff to offer unlimited tethering has been scrapped. Three is changing the terms of its One Plan for new contracts. Existing customers currently get unlimited tethering, but new contracts will be limited to 2GB. Three will also stop offering the One Plan to handset contract customers, instead making it a SIM-Only tariff. Customers with existing One Plan contracts will continue to benefit from unlimited tethering until their deal expires. The retrograde step follows Three's decision to offer 3G customers a free upgrade to 4G. Clearly fearful of the amount of data customers could download on a connection with measured download speeds in excess of 30Mbits/sec in central London, Three has decided to impose download caps. Such speeds meant customers could use a One Plan with unlimited tethering as a substitute for a landline connection. Indeed, the speeds offered by Three's 4G network far exceed those possible on ADSL lines, and are comparable to those of low-end fibre broadband connections. The booming popularity of video-on-demand services such as Netflix is putting huge strain on broadband networks. Sandvine's Global Internet Phenomena report for the second half of 2013 found that YouTube and Netflix alone accounted for more than half of the US's total internet traffic. Fewer than two years since its launch in Europe, Netlfix now accounts for more than 20% of downstream traffic. The research also found that the average European downloads 14GB of data on fixed-line networks every month, seven times the cap that Three has just imposed on One Plan customers Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company (c) 2014 All rights reserved. Albawaba.com |