As had been expected, Verizon this week began pushing smartphone updates that cripple some devices' innate ability to be used as a mobile hotspot -- for free. Specifically, Verizon pushed an update to the HTC Thunderbolt that blocked the devices embedded hotspot functionality, making the device less valuable and less useful to consumers. Why? Verizon wants to ensure that users have to pay an additional $20 a month mobile hotspot fee.
That fee -- which provides an additional 2GB of monthly usage -- is tacked on top of Verizon's already steep new data pricing. This new pricing arrived last week and heralded the end of unlimited data -- though some users can grandfather their unlimited plans -- for now. Instead, Verizon's now giving users the choice of 2GB of data for $30 a month, 5GB of data for $50 a month or 10GB of data for $80 a month.
Verizon's decision to cripple hotspot functionality comes on the heels of them convincing Google to pull tethering apps from the Google marketplace. Similar "upgrades" are expected to be pushed to the Droid Charge, and the LG Revolution. The tactic is something AT&T has also been employing, in addition to sending users who they believe are unofficially tethering a warning letter informing them they'll be automatically upgraded to more expensive plans.
In Verizon's case, they cleverly pretended the functionality in a number of these phones was was a "special feature" they were offering free access to for a limited time, so it looked less crooked when they crippled the devices at a later date and forced users to pay for functionality traditionally embedded in Android for free. A number of people seem to buy this logic, not understanding that this is functionality that comes embedded in the phone and/or OS by default, and Verizon is creating a false fee layer by disabling the device's ability to function as a modem or hotspot -- then pretending they provide it as a "service." The result is users paying a substantial monthly fee for Verizon doing absolutely nothing.
Blocking perfectly legitimate applications and crippling devices to make an extra buck certainly runs contrary to the "open" paradigm Verizon has been paying lip service to since 2007. With users already paying per the byte and incurring additional expense regardless of what device is connected to the network -- adding an additional fee to tether or use already-existent hotspot features feels counter-evolutionary and pointlessly punitive.
