Video speed trap lurks in new iPad

You'll love the blistering data speeds on the new iPad models with 4G wireless. What you may not love is how fast you could exhaust your monthly data allotment, or the cost of using that data when the preferred method of connecting, Wi-Fi, is unavailable.


Less than 24 hours after purchasing the Verizon Wireless version of the iPad + 4G — and choosing a $30, 2GB monthly data plan from Verizon — I was shocked by the notification on my iPad's screen: "There is no data remaining on your current plan."
My remaining options for the month included changing to a $50 5GB data plan or an $80 10GB plan. (AT&T offers a 250MB plan for $14.99; 3GB for $30; and 5GB for $50.)




The iPad's new high-resolution screen and fast connection are specifically designed to spur greater use of online video -- a long-stated goal for phone companies as well as technology purveyors such as Apple and Google.


Telecom companies in particular are banking on mobile video to drum up demand for their new, fourth-generation networks and create new revenue streams as they adjust to the smartphone age.


That means something has to give: either consumers will have to get used to paying more or wireless carriers will come under pressure to change their pricing models.


Verizon declined to comment on its pricing strategy, but said customers can pick higher-use plans or they can go easier on their data allotments by shifting to WiFi networks when they are available.


Those alternatives don't always line up well with what consumers want.


Albert Park, a 24-year-old working at a start-up in Austin, Texas, tapped into the WiFi network at a local cafe on Sunday to watch some YouTube videos on his iPad. The network turned out to be too slow for an uninterrupted stream, so Mr Park switched to the high-speed mobile network operated by his service provider, AT&T.


For the next hour, Mr Park watched concert videos and other clips and browsed social-media sites. On Tuesday, five days after getting the new iPad, he found he was already two-thirds of the way through his monthly allotment of 3 gigabytes of wireless data.


"I'll probably avoid watching videos outside my home," Mr Park concluded.


Such decisions set up a quandary for wireless carriers, which are rolling out multibillion-dollar high-speed networks that use a technology called LTE. The technology promises to boost mobile download speeds by 10 times compared with third-generation networks, making it almost purpose-built for mobile video.


Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, has the nation's biggest LTE network, covering an area with more than 200 million people. AT&T's LTE network covers 74 million people. Both carriers' LTE networks are still growing, and Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA -- which don't currently carry the iPad -- also have plans to build LTE networks.