Cheap data-only wireless plan?
 

I hate cell phones. Not so much the carrying them around part (I own a Nokia 770, so that doesn't bother me); it's really just the fact that service plans are generally expensive, especially since I don't use phones that often.

However, I'm conflicted, because I am more often in a situation where there are no free WAPs around, and I want internet access on my Nokia 770. In this case, a cell phone is pretty much the only way to go. This would be especially useful in my testing of Maemo Mapper's auto-map-download capability (which is difficult to reliably test without a mobile data source).

Does anyone know of any good "cell phone" plans for JUST data, not voice? I understand that I might be forced to accept a few wasted voice minutes per month, but if I can minimize that and still get a decent (unlimited?) data plan, I might just forfeit my position as The Last Man On The Planet Without a Cell Phone. Bandwidth and latency are, of course, concerns, but cost is probably a larger one for me.

I suppose I should also take into account that I'll need a cheap bluetooth-capable phone to go with it. I honestly could care less what the phone can do, though. I don't want a camera, but I guess maybe a good PIM would be useful, since the Nokia 770 is still lacking in that department.

Any suggestions?

The phone part is easy : get a Nokia 6021 if you can find one. I guess your miracle plan may exist somewhere, but probably not on this here planet yet : "data", "cheap" and "unlimited" (even "not-too-limited") are not keywords that go well together in today's market -- it's hard to get even two ot of three. And "decent" is hardly what first comes to mind about our beloved mobile operators...

So far, the cheapest thing I can find is Cingular's $44.99 unlimited data plan, but it seems to only work on a limited number of PDA-like, expensive phones (Nokia 9300 was the cheapest at $299 with a 2-year contract). It probably requires a voice plan to go with it, too, for another $40 a month...

I was looking for the exact same thing but in Canada the situation is even bleaker. The only unlimited plan I found was for a Crackberry-only and was $120 per month :( Most of the services seem to want to charge obscene rates per MB of download.
I would imagine that with any of these plans, as soon as you start roaming, the unlimited goes out the window.
I would appreciate any pointers also since sometimes there are unpublished plans.

Totally agree on N6021, I bought one after N770 just to use as the modem part of it and it works like a charme. I cannot be of any help about the plans part 'cause I'm on the other side of the ocean...