That kind of technique exists for several years in my country. VPNs and/or proxy softwares are used to gain unlimited access to the internet with little to no money spent.
Yes. Not all of these tools, of course, because some do not really work, while some are being blocked by telcos. There are also times when telcos patch the holes in their system. I'm sure there are still working VPNs and/or proxy applications right now being used (abused?) to access the internet.