Have fun navigating the carriers' 3G pricing! To help you do so, I've put together a pricing table, current as of Dec. 2, 2010.
Monthly plans
| AT&T | Sprint | T-Mobile | Verizon Wireless | |||||
| Smartphones | ||||||||
| Personal use | $15 per 200MB | $0.08 | $30 "unlimited" | -- | $10 per 200MB | $0.05 | $20 per 2GB | $0.01 |
| Personal use | $25 per 2GB | $0.01 | -- | -- | $30 "unlimited" | -- | -- | -- |
| Corporate use | $45 per 2GB | $0.02 | $40 "unlimited" | -- | -- | -- | $40 per 2GB | -- |
| All use | additional MB | same as above | additional MB | $0.00 | additional MB | $0.00 | $20 per additional 1GB | $0.02 |
| Tablets | ||||||||
| All use | $15 per 200MB | $0.08 | $30 per 2GB | $0.01 | $25 per 250MB | $0.10 | $20 per 1GB | $0.02 |
| All use | $25 per 2GB | $0.01 | $60 per 5GB | $0.01 | $40 "unlimted" | $0.00 | $35 per 3GB | $0.01 |
| All use | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | $50 per 5GB | $0.01 |
| All use | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | $80 per 10GB | $0.01 |
| All use | additional MB | same as above | additional MB | $0.05 | additional MB | same as above | $10 per additional 1GB | $0.01 |
| USB modems/MiFi | ||||||||
| All use | $35 per 200MB | $0.18 | $60 per 5GB | $0.01 | $25 per 250MB | $0.10 | $40 per 250MB | $0.16 |
| All use | $60 per 5GB | $0.01 | -- | -- | $40 "unlimted" | -- | $60 per 5GB | $0.01 |
| All use | additional MB | $0.05 | additional MB | $0.05 | additional MB | same as above | additional MB | $0.05 |
| 3G netbook | ||||||||
| All use | $35 per 200MB | $0.18 | $40 per 500MB | $0.08 | -- | -- | $50 per 5GB | $0.01 |
| All use | $60 per 5GB | $0.01 | -- | -- | -- | -- | $80 per 10GB | $0.01 |
| All use | additional MB | $0.05 | additional MB | $0.05 | -- | -- | $10 per additional 1GB | $0.01 |
No-commitment plans
| AT&T | Virgin Mobile | T-Mobile | Verizon Wireless | |||||
| Smartphones | ||||||||
| All use | $15 per 200MB | $0.08 | -- | -- | $10 per 100MB | $0.10 | -- | -- |
| All use | additional MB | $10.24 | -- | -- | $20 per 300MB | $0.07 | -- | -- |
| All use | -- | -- | -- | -- | $50 per 1GB | $0.01 | -- | -- |
| Tablets | ||||||||
| All use | $15 per 200MB | $0.08 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| All use | $25 per 2GB | $0.01 | -- | -- | -- | -- | - | -- |
| All use | additional MB | same as above | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| All use | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | $80 per 10GB | $0.01 |
| USB modems/MiFi | ||||||||
| All use | -- | -- | $10 per 100MB | $0.10 | -- | -- | $15 per 100MB | $0.15 |
| All use | -- | -- | $40 "unlimited" | -- | -- | -- | $30 per 300MB | $0.10 |
| All use | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | $50 per 1GB | $0.05 |
| All use | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | $80 per 5GB | $0.02 |
This article, "The strange, unpredictable pricing of 3G data plans," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Gruman et al.'s Mobile Edge blog and follow the latest developments in mobile technology at InfoWorld.com.