dslreports logo
 story category
Verizon Again Hints At New Pricing For LTE
Suggests multiple devices connected under one plan (finally)

While Verizon's LTE plans have gotten a lot of press, specific details (especially pricing) on the service have been limited -- outside of the fact the service will launch in 25-30 markets sometime this year, at speeds somewhere between 5-12 Mbps downstream. But like AT&T -- Verizon does continue to hint at new pricing that moves beyond the concept of unlimited bytes. Speaking at an investor's conference this week, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam suggested that the company would offer one plan (or one bucket of bytes) that would connect multiple devices. "I think this concern over unlimited megabytes on a smartphone will go away as we bring new devices and new applications onboard," insists McAdam.

view:
topics flat nest 
vlad1000
join:2005-05-19
Brooklyn, NY

vlad1000

Member

do you think they will throttle past certain cap or charge?

it would be interesting to see if they'll have the guts to actuallly charge for over the limit data....unless the cap is like 250GB
stanleycr1
join:2008-12-02
Ivor, VA

stanleycr1

Member

Multiple Devices

Well at least the multiple device idea is good. It sounds like all your devices are going to be able to share one account.
vlad1000
join:2005-05-19
Brooklyn, NY

vlad1000

Member

Re: Multiple Devices

doesnt that mean possibility of sharing data caps and monthly bill with friends etc?
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

1 edit

xenophon

Member

Re: Multiple Devices

It will likely mean multiple devices 'approved by Verizon'.

It will be interesting to see if consumer electronic devices (DVD/BR players, refrigerators, thermostats, gameboy/PSP, cameras, etc) end up with LTE since it is controlled by 3GPP.

CE device makers are tied into IEEE, which controls WiFi and WiMAX. If WiMAX fails, LTE may stunt the possibilities of all kinds of devices with 4G as 3GPP is not friendly with IEEE. IEEE is a bit more open, more consumer friendly than 3GPP. If WiFi (or ethernet) were under control of 3GGP, it would never have become this ubiquitous.
stanleycr1
join:2008-12-02
Ivor, VA

stanleycr1 to vlad1000

Member

to vlad1000
Yes but many of us do that now with the voice plans. On Family Plans.

thegeek
Premium Member
join:2008-02-21
right here

1 edit

thegeek to stanleycr1

Premium Member

to stanleycr1
yes multiple devices on one data plan is a good idea. but don't think it will actually be beneficial to the customer. it's not like verizon is going to say, "ok instead of the two $30 data plans you have on your acct now, both devices can share one $30 plan!"

what is more likely to happen is sure, your two devices can share a data plan, but you will ultimately be paying more for the same amount of data.

if a $30 data plan gets you 5gb now you are paying $6/gb. they should just go with buckets of 1gb for $6. you use 2gb then you get charged $12. you use 10gb you get charged $60. you get the idea. no caps, no overages, just a set rate per gb or mb. a rate that is fair for the customer and verizon. no need to say, "i want 4gb this month" and then not use it all even though you paid for it or use over that amount and pay through the nose. if you're old enough to remember, this is the way land line phone companies charged in the past for minutes. it was a good system. the current system only fucks the customer over and lines the pockets of the provider. /pipe-dream
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

1 edit

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: Multiple Devices

I would LOVE to pay $6 per gig of data... I'd save myself a CRAP load of money every year... My iPhone for the entire year used, for it's lifetime, 113MB sent, 966MB received. I have the 3GS and it was purchased June of last year.

My connection card uses, on average per month, 2gb of data, through Sprint.

I have the MiFi sitting idle sometimes for a couple months when I'm not traveling. I still see a savings having the card sitting there as I'm out of town for two weeks at a time. The hotels I stay in charge upwards of $10 a day for internet. So, yea... billing by the bucket or byte has always been favored by me at least.

BUT... billing more on usage over a set limit will mostly likely hurt the companies than help them as it stands. Right now, just like with all but AT&T who don't have roll-over, they often sell you more billable minutes than you actually use each month. Example, those that take a 900 minute plan that use about 600 a month burn and waste 300 minutes making each minute you DO use more expensive to you, and better for them as they're over selling you on minutes. The same works with data. Those with the 5GB cap, still, will use less.. so they're selling many people more data than they really use. IF they go to the billing by the byte, they're going to get paid on what they actually deliver which could hurt them.. ESPECIALLY if they get so expensive that less people purchase into the wireless data plan.

Just depends, really, on how greedy they want to get on their pricing per MB or GB.
JasonBourne
join:2000-05-22
Kansas City, MO

JasonBourne

Member

Re: Multiple Devices

If you don't mind answering. Why do you have an iPhone and not a regular phone if you hardly use data? It seems like overkill to me.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: Multiple Devices

said by JasonBourne:

If you don't mind answering. Why do you have an iPhone and not a regular phone if you hardly use data? It seems like overkill to me.
Why? I use many of the features on it, I combine my itouch with the iphone, I use nike+ when I work out, I like the full browser on it,.... and MOST of my data ends up going over WiFi when I'm out and about. In the MPLS metro, there are several communities that have wifi available... I don't use my phone when I'm driving so I really don't need it available then.. and it just works at that the majority of the places I DO stop at has wifi available.

I travel for work, I'm at my customer locations and they have it available for me... (ironically enough, I also installed it) And, the iphone is just a very easy phone to use and is pretty well featured packed. Since I've had that phone, I've yet to see one that works as smooth and easy as it, INCLUDING anything android based. I had the Hero and found it extremely annoying.. too many taps to get to where I wanted and some things were done via the screen while other commands were by physical buttons.. just wasn't for me.
cooperaaaron
join:2004-04-10
Joliet, IL

cooperaaaron to fiberguy2

Member

to fiberguy2
All the hotels I stay at have free internet... I was just in Savannah, GA staying at a Red Roof Inn, and it seemed to me that ALL of the surrounding hotels had free internet signals for the using..

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

1 recommendation

DaveDude

Member

Verizon leads

I guess ATT will be doing the same, ATT never jumps ahead until Verizon makes them.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

Re: Verizon leads

It seems to me that AT&T is content to milk the current arrangement as long as possible. Change is bad. Verizon is definitely the leader here. Of course, they want to make as much money as possible, just like AT&T, but they are taking a much more palatable approach to it.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

If limits are future, needs fair overcharge mechanism

VZW needs to come up with a fair method to overcharge. If you choose a 5GB plan and start to go over, they need to have a way to approve continuing usage in some way before allowing you to rack up high overcharge. Perhaps it would just ask if you want to buy another 5GB bucket or pay $x/GB.
Big Dawg 23
join:2002-03-27
Northfield, MN

Big Dawg 23

Member

Re: If limits are future, needs fair overcharge mechanism

How do people go over 5GB on there phones? I now commute via a Van pool and stream and tether my Droid for 90 minutes a day. Last month I got to 2.5GB. I also down load 3-4 100MB files per week.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

Re: If limits are future, needs fair overcharge mechanism

VZW says it will be a bucket plan for multiple devices. 5GB is just a number I threw out. Could be 1GB increments.

I have a hard time going over 5GB too, but on one device. If you stream Netflix on, say an LTE Roku if such a thing happens some day, 5GB is not much.

Nevertheless, they better come up with some kind of validation to continue when the bucket is consumed rather than charge an outrageous $/MB.
Chubbysumo
join:2009-12-01
Duluth, MN
Ubee E31U2V1
(Software) pfSense
Netgear WNR3500L

Chubbysumo

Member

Re: If limits are future, needs fair overcharge mechanism

It is easy to go over 5 GB in one month. on my landline broadband i typically do 400GigaBytes per month, with gaming, downloads, and streaming, and basic browsing.

Look at it this way:
If I were to cut landline broadband service, I would easily munch up that 5 GB of data in less than a day.

I currently have an Iphone 3GS. My monthly data usage is 4 GB. That is just plain web browsing, downloading apps, updates, and basic data traffic to and from the phone. There was 1 month were I did 14 GB of data, and I never got charged an average because it was my first time. I did get a bill for $801, but I took it into a store, and they removed the charges, because i didn't have a history of doing this, and I was not aware of the 5GB cap, since it was before the word unlimited was removed/aterisked.

Thats just on the cellular side of things. on the wifi side of things i use around 20GB a month from my own home network(my router has a usage tracker per MAC).

The 5 GB cap is only good if you plan on checking email and browsing the web, like an old gramma.

If you do, however, plan on taking advantage of what the internet has to offer today, you will use significantly more data. Things like HD video streaming uses .8 GB per hour, gaming uses .5 GB per hour(tested by me, with an MMORPG, FPS will probably use more), most flash games are around 50MB now(seen them as much at 1.2 GB), and are getting bigger as games get more complex.

Basically, computers, and computer technology, and phone technology have evolved and become blurred where one ends, and the other begins. This means that wireless pricing models need to change, otherwise people will migrate to services that can provide access to all the content of the ever growing internet, and not pay an arm and a leg to get it.

The "bandwidth crunch" that wireless carriers claim to have are a bunch of marketing tactics.

There is no bandwidth crunch, and the 5GB per month cap was set 10 to 15 years ago, when the internet was never considered for things like streaming, intense gaming, huge downloads, and faster computers.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: If limits are future, needs fair overcharge mechanism

There are SOOOOO many things wrong with your post, it's not even funny.

"I currently have an Iphone 3GS. My monthly data usage is 4 GB. That is just plain web browsing, downloading apps, updates, and basic data traffic to and from the phone"

So really.. that's a lot of apps... a lot of updates, and "basic traffic" huh?

The 5gb caps were set 10 to 15 years ago as well, huh? Tell me.. what "mobile broadband" was really even around 15 years ago? And back then, it used cellular dial up minutes via cellular dial modems anyway.

the 5GB cap for TRUE mobile broadband use is NOT just for checking email and browsing the web "like an old gramma" as you state... there are lots of business users out there still that are under 5gb. And, if you're "mobile" and always on the go, then you're really not using a lot of data.. The biggest mistake that people make, including yourself, is you're confusing "mobile broadband" with "landline broadband replacement"...

Someone like you with your needs really shouldn't be trying to replace a land line based broadband connection with a wireless one.. not for a LONG time.

And one other thing - and that's all for now - but, that "bandwidth crunch" that you say wireless carriers claim but is marketing tactics... are you willing to stand behind that against an angry mob of AT&T users here who say otherwise... all the time? Remember that festival in SF that was posted recently with a gazillion users up in arms that nothing worked right for them?

.. think again. Not all of it is about marketing. To be honest, this entire post, in general, reminds me of someone sitting behind their computer making it up as they go just to say something. I'm sorry, but it just does.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned) to Big Dawg 23

Member

to Big Dawg 23
They go over 5 gigs when it is the ONLY broadband connection they have. No cable, No DSL, No nothing ...
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Is this 2002?


McAdam also addressed 4G pricing. He said that, due to growth in connected devices and machine to machine services, there will be a natural evolution toward purchasingmegabytes of data on a network in order to connect five or six or more devices.


As long as they keep talking about MEGAbytes and not GIGA bytes they are far behind. a MEGAbytes is NOTHING especiaally if you have a computer therthered. They already charge 5 cents per MB on their thethering plan. Which is $51.20 per GB which is not only a joke but should be illegal.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: Is this 2002?

While I agree with you 99% on what you say as it makes sense.. the one thing I can't is where you say "it should be illegal"... in this case, it makes it sound like people "have a right" to mobile broadband... I mean, it shouldn't be illegal for them to be stupid. Who is going to buy it at that price? there is no need to put a law on something like that as the market will ALWAYS dictate the price. If they priced out a gig at $51.20, not many people would buy it, they'd start to bleed on that product and they'd be forced to drop the price.. THAT is what keeps the market in check. OR, people go to the other guy that's smart enough to keep the price down.

In this case, the market would definitely take care of that problem and quickly! .. especially if they pulled the $30 unlimited phone plans away or the $60 data cards as well.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Is this 2002?

said by fiberguy2:

While I agree with you 99% on what you say as it makes sense.. the one thing I can't is where you say "it should be illegal"... in this case, it makes it sound like people "have a right" to mobile broadband... I mean, it shouldn't be illegal for them to be stupid. Who is going to buy it at that price? there is no need to put a law on something like that as the market will ALWAYS dictate the price. If they priced out a gig at $51.20, not many people would buy it, they'd start to bleed on that product and they'd be forced to drop the price.. THAT is what keeps the market in check. OR, people go to the other guy that's smart enough to keep the price down.

In this case, the market would definitely take care of that problem and quickly! .. especially if they pulled the $30 unlimited phone plans away or the $60 data cards as well.
We technically you don't have a "right" to gasoline. I can 100% guarantee if gas stations started charging $100 per gallon YOU would be calling for the authorities to do something. $51.20 per GB is EASILY 200X their cost. Something wrong with them "only" charging 2X cost? They are still making a profit.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: Is this 2002?

BAAAAAAD example, using Gasoline there buddy... Fuel/Energy is different from MOBILE broadband...

People need fuel and energy to get around in this modern age. The mobile internet is a MAJOR luxury at this point in time... what I'm basically saying is that it's not a "necessity" in life like gas.

Like I said, the market place will not bear abuse of pricing when it comes to mobile broadband as people CAN go with out it, unlike gas, where our economy is largely based on energy.

gfgfh
@cox.net

gfgfh to 88615298

Anon

to 88615298
It's 4G not fiber. They will refer to it as megabytes until the system can handle gigabytes. I did 55 GIGabytes in May on Cox . This isn't considered the only service and don't count wifi access.