I've had a Samsung Galaxy S2 for two years, and I'm trying to decide which device to move to next.

When I moved to California a few years ago, I decided to go with T-Mobile, which has proven to be an excellent decision. Between dropping phone contacts and removing international data roaming fees, I've been very happy with their evolution, and (despite some poor coverage in various parts of the US) their service. In particular, I don't really grok why anyone would use AT&T.

But now, I find myself wondering if I need a personal phone at all. 99% of my phone use is over the Internet; I heavily use Google Hangouts, my voicemail and text messages are through Google Voice, and I've got credit on my Skype account. Particularly considering the data roaming changes, I think I could probably get away without the phone component of my device at all. After all, a telephone is a legacy device for voice communications over proprietary networks - something that is much more easily and flexibly done over the Internet. In many ways, an Internet phone number is better: it's not tethered to a single device, so I can call from whatever I have to hand, and change providers, even across countries, whenever I want to.

A MiFi, in other words, would be a smarter buy.

T-Mobile seems to be aware of this, because the only viable mobile broadband plan runs at $70 a month - which, coincidentally, is exactly what I pay for phone service with unlimited data. There's no financial incentive for me to change. And this carries on across the board: Verizon's is also $70, while AT&T is actually ten dollars cheaper for 10GB. Sprint is $80 for 12GB.

So despite not needing a phone plan, I'm forced into a position where I might as well get phone service. Because the data that comes with my $70 plan is unlimited, it's actually a better deal. That's disappointing: I was hoping to save some money by cutting out services that I don't need. But it also suggests that there's room for a data-only provider to cut through the incumbent networks and provide a service for data-only customers.

Android devices work well as mobile wifi hotspots, and T-Mobile doesn't charge extra for this these days, so it's not like I'm losing anything by buying another phone instead of a MiFi: I can still connect my iPads, laptops and other devices to my 4G service when I need to. Nonetheless, it feels odd to be be forced to buy into an old-fashioned way of doing things. I await the first consumer-oriented data-only cellphone networks eagerly.