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> Soon they'll be coming with their own 5G chips that phone home over cell networks - no wifi access required This is something I never understood about the IO

> Soon they'll be coming with their own 5G chips that phone home over cell networks - no wifi access required This is something I never understood about the IOT bullcrap, even if something can connect to a mobile network, they'd still need the expense of a data subscription which render the whole thing pretty moot. It's not as if 5G providers were operating their network for free.

sidpatil 6y ago
The device manufacturer will eat the cost of the 5G subscription, since it will likely be lower than the revenue generated from the harvested personal data.
- alacombe 6y ago
  How low can you get these ? Even at $5/month, that's $60... is a single user's data worth that much ?
  - drevil-v2 6y ago
    It will be only tracking and surveillance data that the TV uploads to the mothership. It's not like they will let you stream YouTube, Netflix or Prime on their inbuilt 5G connection. So the cost will be minimal and further reduced by the bulk volume that the manufacturer would purchase from the telco. Like how Amazon Kindle comes with a free 3G connection to download your books and upload your reading habits.
    - alacombe 6y ago
      You're not answering the question, I'm not asking anything about streaming anything over 5G. I'm asking about the cost of IoT subscription, plus all the logistic to put in place in every country where a company intend to your product.
      - throw2183912983 6y ago
        They did answer the question: > So the cost will be minimal and further reduced by the bulk volume that the manufacturer would purchase from the telco. Like how Amazon Kindle comes with a free 3G connection to download your books and upload your reading habits. I have no doubt a TV manufacturer selling millions of devices could get any US LTE carrier to sell them a low-bandwidth data service for pennies per device per month. You're talking about retail rates, when a bulk IoT buyer like this will not be paying anything close to retail. As for the logistics, it's not that hard. They already have to produce separate SKUs for various regions for the power adapters. So you just add another variable: included SIM card. US gets a [Verizon|ATT|T-Mo] SIM, EU gets one of their carriers, etc.
  - sidpatil 6y ago
    When we had satellite TV (more than a decade ago), one of the conditions was to keep the receiver plugged into the phone line. If it wasn't plugged in, there'd be a $5 surcharge on the bill that month. I figured this was because they were collecting data on viewership habits. Each customer profile must have been worth $5 or more, based on the surcharge amount. (The phone line was useful for other things too, like ordering PPV/on-demand/premium channels through the menus directly, as opposed to calling them in through a 1-800 number.)
Merad 6y ago
I'd expect that a company the size of Samsung is able to negotiate data plans at least an order of magnitude cheaper than anything available to the average consumer.

sidpatil 6y ago

The device manufacturer will eat the cost of the 5G subscription, since it will likely be lower than the revenue generated from the harvested personal data.

alacombe 6y ago
How low can you get these ? Even at $5/month, that's $60... is a single user's data worth that much ?
- drevil-v2 6y ago
  It will be only tracking and surveillance data that the TV uploads to the mothership. It's not like they will let you stream YouTube, Netflix or Prime on their inbuilt 5G connection. So the cost will be minimal and further reduced by the bulk volume that the manufacturer would purchase from the telco. Like how Amazon Kindle comes with a free 3G connection to download your books and upload your reading habits.
  - alacombe 6y ago
    You're not answering the question, I'm not asking anything about streaming anything over 5G. I'm asking about the cost of IoT subscription, plus all the logistic to put in place in every country where a company intend to your product.
    - throw2183912983 6y ago
      They did answer the question: > So the cost will be minimal and further reduced by the bulk volume that the manufacturer would purchase from the telco. Like how Amazon Kindle comes with a free 3G connection to download your books and upload your reading habits. I have no doubt a TV manufacturer selling millions of devices could get any US LTE carrier to sell them a low-bandwidth data service for pennies per device per month. You're talking about retail rates, when a bulk IoT buyer like this will not be paying anything close to retail. As for the logistics, it's not that hard. They already have to produce separate SKUs for various regions for the power adapters. So you just add another variable: included SIM card. US gets a [Verizon|ATT|T-Mo] SIM, EU gets one of their carriers, etc.
- sidpatil 6y ago
  When we had satellite TV (more than a decade ago), one of the conditions was to keep the receiver plugged into the phone line. If it wasn't plugged in, there'd be a $5 surcharge on the bill that month. I figured this was because they were collecting data on viewership habits. Each customer profile must have been worth $5 or more, based on the surcharge amount. (The phone line was useful for other things too, like ordering PPV/on-demand/premium channels through the menus directly, as opposed to calling them in through a 1-800 number.)

Merad 6y ago

I'd expect that a company the size of Samsung is able to negotiate data plans at least an order of magnitude cheaper than anything available to the average consumer.