Canadian Gets $85,000 Data Bill

Recently, a Canadian fellow, 22 years old, stopped into a Bell Mobility store to get himself a new phone and took advantage of their new unlimited mobile browsing plan. He assumed that this meant any data coming through his mobile was unlimited and set it up to tether his home computer to his phone’s data connection.

At $65,000, he figured his first bill was a mistake, and continued using his phone to download movies and other large files. When he called in to inquire about it, he was informed that his total had jumped to $85,000. Apparently the new Bell Mobility plan does NOT include tethering to your computer. He’s fighting the charges, and rightfully so.

The carriers have such a rough time convincing people to use data on their handsets and wonder why. It’s situations like this that scare people away from their mobile browsers. Why wasn’t this chap cut off, or at least given a phone call when they realized what he was doing? Did Bell Mobility really think this guy would (or anyone for that matter) deliberately run up $85,000 in data charges?