Karma Neverstop replaced with Pulse tiered data plans
Karma has announced that is is pulling Neverstop, allowing present customers to keep enjoying it until their billing cycle ends, but stopping further renewals after that (as well as new signups). It is replacing Neverstop with a new service called Pulse, but the move isn't terribly surprising — Karma announced some pretty big changes to Neverstop last month that throttled users after they reached a 15GB data cap.
No one likes data caps, of course, and the moment they come into play, the term 'unlimited data' loses its meaning. Karma was forced to add the 15GB data cap after users began abusing the service (that is to say, used it as their home WiFi when that wasn't Karma's intention, pulling down hundreds of gigabytes a month). Once Neverstop customers hit the 15GB monthly cap, they'll be reduced to much slower speeds, somewhere between 64 to 128Kbps.
Says the company, "The whole point of Neverstop was that you should never have to worry about your data usage. Since we announced changes to Neverstop, this hasn't been the case." Users weren't happy about the change, the 'unlimited' designation seemed like another ploy, and so now about a month later Karma is trying something new: Pulse.
Neverstop had cost $50/month, and gave users (after the change) 5Mbps at up to 15GB. Things change with Pulse. Says Karma, "It's a subscription that gives you the flexibility ... and has no throttling, ever." As well, the company believes it can sustain the Pulse subscriptions, whereas it has called Neverstop unsustainable in the present.
The changes are notable. Rather than 5Mbps, Pulse subscribers get up to 25Mbps and there's no throttling. Up to 8 devices can be connected at a time, and there are different data caps for different needs. A 5GB/month data cap comes with a $40/month price; the mid-tier plan is 10GB/month for $75/month, and the highest option is 20GB/month for $140/month. Extra gigabytes can be added for $15/each.
Those who currently have a Neverstop account can keep using it until their monthly cycle runs out. Before that, though, the subscribers are encouraged to go select which Pulse plan they want (assuming you're sticking around through the next change) — doing so will ensure the new plan starts as soon as the Neverstop ends, preventing a lapse in service.
Customers who don't make any changes will automatically revert to the 5GB Pulse plan. Those who don't like any of those options can switch to either the pay as you go Refuel option or can cancel their Karma service.
SOURCE: Karma Blog