As we shifted from 3G to 4G and now 5G, data transfer speeds have increased dramatically. This resulted in users needing more and more mobile data traffic. A standard base plan may not have enough data included which is why you may want to look at unlimited plans. Understanding what unlimited data mobile plans takes only a couple of minutes to understand but it should be noted that not all of them are the same.
Unlimited May Not Be Unlimited
When you read the description of a plan and see unlimited, you would expect it to offer unlimited data. That is not always the case. The biggest culprits are operators that offer packages that claim to have unlimited data but have a daily limit. What this means is that you do not get unlimited data but a 30 x maximum daily limit. If the limit is 1 GB, you cannot go beyond 30 GB per month. That is anything but unlimited. There are base plans that offer more data than that. If we were to describe unlimited data mobile plans, this is not it.
In reality, there are very few genuinely unlimited plans. There is a caveat here as well. Data is indeed unlimited but there are some restrictions. An unlimited data plan may have a fine print that states that only a fixed amount of traffic is allowed at 4G or 5G speeds. Once that threshold is exceeded, the transfer speed is limited. Until you reach that limit, your traffic is metered. After that, traffic is unmetered but transfer speeds are reduced.
What Unlimited Data Actually Means
Such plans can prove to be good deals. If you look beyond the “unlimited” term, these plans should be enough even for heavy data users. As long as the amount of data included at high transfer speeds is enough to get you throughout the month without worrying about how much traffic you have left, they should be good enough. Also, such plans have the great advantage of saving you money by not being charged once you run out of traffic. You will not be forced into getting an add-on just to add more traffic. They will not simply cut your internet access.
One thing you should keep an eye out for is plans with rollover 4G traffic. What this means is that if your plan includes 100 GB at 4G speeds per month, if you don’t use all of it, what is left is being transferred to the next month. For example, you use just 50 GB for one month. Next month you will have 150 GB. Keep in mind that rollover traffic may only be valid for another month. It can expire but this depends on each carrier’s rollover policy.
Lastly, you should keep in mind that unlimited data plans may not have talk time or SMS traffic included. If you understand what unlimited data mobile plans are, it should make sense why such services may not be included. If you get it as an add-on on top of a base plan, it will add up to whatever you have included in that plan.
