Do Cellphone Carriers Charge Each Time You Play Already-Downloaded Files?

Sorry for the poorly-worded question, but I need to know whether AT&T, et al charge my data plan each time I access a file I've downloaded days or months ago? For example, I downloaded a bunch of 1940 Census pages (PDFs) the first day they were released. The original downloads put me over my 2GB limit, and I got socked with overages. Every time I open/view those files that currently reside in my phone, will AT&T charge it against my data plan? I haven't gotten a straight answer from the AT&T forums or other sources. TIA! And God how I miss my unlimited data plan.

Just%20upgraded%20to%20fucking%205GB%20plan.
• If they're in your phone's memory or on an SD card, you don't get charged because there is no external server communication. If they are on the remote server, you get charged because there is.

• if you are accessing them from a browser, the answer is likely yes. Unless you're able to actually save then files to a PDF viewer application or e-Reader, I would assume you're being charged.

• Thanks, R1 and R2. I guess I'll just buy a bunch of SD cards and store as much as possible on them. That's what I did with my old SonyEricsson. One other question: if I do save browser links and pages to internal drive or SD card, does the carrier still consider it "streaming media" when I access those saved/bookmarked files? Thanks!

  OPIE

• If they are links, yes, because it has to go the network to retrieve the content. If you've actually saved the full content, with no network connection necessary, then there is no charge. For browser links and pages, that's not very easy to do, as even if the main content is on the device, there may still be external links for images and the like.

• So the trend toward cloud-computing is a manufactured one, designed to create a market in which you have to pay for everything multiple times?

• That's exactly what I have been wondering, R5. When I pay for something I expect to own it and do as I like with it, whenever I want to, for as long as I own it. At work we migrated to *required awed whisper* The Cloud, and it's been a bitch and two-thirds. Files not being where you saved them, iffy access for no discernible reason, etc. Virtual access can be turned into no access in a nanosec.

  OP

• If you have to worry about going over your allotment of data then you're too poor to own a cell phone. I hate it when poor people try to act rich and fail at it. So miserable fail at it.

• I highly recommend T-Mobile's unlimited data plan.

• R7 did a search (?) to find this thread which had been dead for 6 months so he could scold someone? That is so fucking weird.

  LOL