Latest reports revealed that Verizon Wireless may introduce tiered pricing and put a stop to its unlimited data plans, as part of switching to faster fourth generation network technology, a move initiated by AT&T earlier this month.
According to John Killian, chief financial offer of Verizon Communications Inc., “We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate.”
It was only recently that AT&T announced its shift to two-tiered plans based on usage, in order to cater to the increasing data traffic.
AT&Ts DataPlus plan will charge $15/month for 200 megabytes of data and $15 extra for every 200MB usage over and above their allotted 200MB. The DataPro plan pricing is $25 for 2GB of data and an extra $10 for every 1GB used above that. This plan is for new AT&T customers who sign up after June 7. Existing customers can continue to use their unlimited plans for the length of their contracts. They are also given the option to shift if they wish.
Verizon is also making a similar effort to keep the network running smoothly with the expected increase in data traffic, due to the anticipated shift in customers to smartphones that are connected to the internet.
The new Verizon data plans for the 4G network are currently being finalized, and are said to provide 10 times faster data rates than before.
The data usage for Verizon’s customers for the Droid and Incredible smartphones is reported to be between 600 and 800 megabytes, which is almost the same as used by the iPhone customers. In time, smartphone users are expected to grow up to 70 – 80 percent of the overall Verizon customers; although they are about 17 percent today.
Analysts say that Verizon doesn’t want the next generation of customers to get used to the idea of unlimited data usage.
Verizon is unable to provide further details of the data plans at the moment but the chief technology officer, Dick Lynch, revealed the company will offer LTE-based 4G wireless service towards the end of 2010 and the first 4G handsets will be unveiled in mid 2011.