Verizon Wireless: Tiered Pricing Coming This Summer Though They're Still Not Sure About Specifics Tipped by skj 
Over the last few years, Verizon's been repeatedly tinkering and experimenting with their wireless data pricing -- trying to figure out what customers are willing to pay. They've also hinted dozens of times that when LTE finally launched, they'd be tinkering with new, more usage-based pricing options. Verizon's LTE network launched last December for USB modem users only, and the pricing wasn't particularly compelling or creative, featuring plans ranging from $50-$80 a month with 5-10GB caps and overages as high as $10 per gigabyte. When Verizon unveils their first LTE smartphones this summer, you'll finally get yet another pricing shift, which may or may not involve the death of unlimited data for smartphones. Speaking at an investor conference, Verizon stated the new tiers could be based on both usage and speed: Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo told investors at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference Tuesday that these upcoming tiered pricing plans could be based upon consumption or speed differentiation, or both. "We are still working on the models," he said. Shammo added that the company initially launched the CDMA version of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4 in February with an unlimited $30 per month data plan because it did not want to provide a barrier to anyone who wanted to experience the iPhone. "Everyone knows that isn't long-term," he added. "We will move to tiered pricing in the mid-summer time frame." As we noted last month, Verizon's unlimited data offer for iPhone users was designed to get people locked back in under long-term contracts. It seems very likely that the launch of the first Verizon LTE smartphone will mean the death of unlimited pricing, despite the added capacity LTE provides.
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  VanPremium
join:2009-07-08
New Orleans, LA | So, what can we expect? $40-$50-or more for at MOST several gigs with ridiculous overages/penalties?
Yippie!
Love my iPhone and use it often with its unlimited package. I recently quit my iPad b/c the 2gb cap was too much of a pain for me. If given such a low cap for my phone, I will find another service as well. No way I will be strangled like that. | |
|  | | | Re: So, what can we expect? $40-$50-or more but you will be strangled as that is what these corporations do to us consumers.
and that is why i will never own a smart phone.but i do own a "dumb" phone that i use for my calls and nothing else. | |
| | | DodgePremium
join:2002-11-27 | Re: So, what can we expect? $40-$50-or more said by gorehound:but you will be strangled as that is what these corporations do to us consumers.
and that is why i will never own a smart phone.but i do own a "dumb" phone that i use for my calls and nothing else.
La-di-da for you, but some of us have no choice but to use smart phones. As much as I would love to go back to my old StarTAC, I can't imagine functioning without a smart phone today. | |
| | | | | | Re: So, what can we expect? $40-$50-or more So say you use 1tb of data... | |
| | | | |  BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: So, what can we expect? $40-$50-or more On a smart phone? most peoe don't do that on a PC with a broadband connection. | |
| | | | | VanPremium
join:2009-07-08
New Orleans, LA | Considering few if any use that much, I would say that these 1tb people are not the end all to ISP's
Hell, as I said before...we were told early on with data caps that ISP's wanted to stop THESE 1tb people so I assumed caps would be hundreds of gb or something. Then....we get....2gb?
I think that is proof enough that companies put the caps in STRICTLY to trap consumers into overages/penalties if you use it often and take up a bit of data.
Somehow lately people watching a few movies or streaming some Pandora music with regular use are now "abusers" | |
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| | | elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA Reviews:
 ·SONIC.NET
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| said by Dodge:said by gorehound:but you will be strangled as that is what these corporations do to us consumers.
and that is why i will never own a smart phone.but i do own a "dumb" phone that i use for my calls and nothing else.
La-di-da for you, but some of us have no choice but to use smart phones. As much as I would love to go back to my old StarTAC, I can't imagine functioning without a smart phone today. No choice? How exactly is that?
Who holds a gun to your head and requires you to pay for a "smart" phone? | |
| | | | | thecp
join:2004-07-15
Sacramento, CA | Re: So, what can we expect? $40-$50-or more He didn't say PAY for a smartphone, he said USE a smartphone. He may have the need for one, or *hint* *hint* be employed by a company that requires you to use one. Welcome to the corporate world. | |
| | | | | | elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: So, what can we expect? $40-$50-or more said by thecp:He didn't say PAY for a smartphone, he said USE a smartphone. He may have the need for one, or *hint* *hint* be employed by a company that requires you to use one.
Wow, that's some nuance.
Ok, so lets say "USE".
In your scenario, the boss is paying for said Smartphone, so the issue of usage tiers is moot. What's to complain? | |
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|  mikepdDiscoveryPremium,MVM
join:2000-10-26
New Port Richey, FL
 ·Verizon FiOS
·RoadRunner Cable
| Keep 3G Unlimited and I do not care about 4G The above says it all for me. LTE has no interest for me as 3G suits my needs just fine. If there are others who need 4G for their purposes that is fine and they are welcome to have it.
Just keep 3G at no more than $10-$15 more than what I am paying now for truly unlimited data with no caps of any kind and I will be happy.
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Always Reach Beyond Your Grasp | |
| | | | Re: Keep 3G Unlimited and I do not care about 4G said by mikepd:The above says it all for me. LTE has no interest for me as 3G suits my needs just fine. If there are others who need 4G for their purposes that is fine and they are welcome to have it.
Just keep 3G at no more than $10-$15 more than what I am paying now for truly unlimited data with no caps of any kind and I will be happy.
You understand... 4G is actually more efficient and less costly to run than 3G, right?
Why would they leave 3G unlimited? I think a more likely scenario would be to cap some tier of 4G at "3G speeds". | |
| | |  NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
·Comcast
 ·Callcentric
| Re: Keep 3G Unlimited and I do not care about 4G said by sonicmerlin:said by mikepd:The above says it all for me. LTE has no interest for me as 3G suits my needs just fine. If there are others who need 4G for their purposes that is fine and they are welcome to have it.
Just keep 3G at no more than $10-$15 more than what I am paying now for truly unlimited data with no caps of any kind and I will be happy.
You understand... 4G is actually more efficient and less costly to run than 3G, right? Why would they leave 3G unlimited? I think a more likely scenario would be to cap some tier of 4G at "3G speeds". I agree, but they will keep the 3g network around for a while. Just like edge has been around for ages. I don't foresee 3g going away anytime soon. Even if they do retire it, I would be happy being on the 4g network with 3g speeds. I don't need the high speed LTE network. They don't have to make it unlimited for me to use, just reasonably priced.
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My domain - Nightfall.net | |
| | | | | I believe that they could leave 3G unlimited as a marketing strategy... You know, much of this UBB stuff is not based in reality. So they create a perception that 4G is better than 3G, and make 3G the value segment for a while before killing it off. | |
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| | Competition Here's hoping Lightsquared is able to complete their network and become a viable fifth competitor. That would be *huge* in preventing the spread of these tiered pricing models.
My only wish is that Clear was somehow separate from Sprint. Can you imagine if Google had bought a majority stake in Clear instead of Sprint? We'd already have a viable 5th competitor, with Lightsquared being a possible 6th. | |
| | | | Re: Competition No they will just rip us off to. | |
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| | Look out Call it like it is, verizon has cooked up yet another scheme to make a cash grab and screw it's customers | |
| | robo74
join:2003-10-23
Harvard, IL | Re: Look out said by oh my :Call it like it is, mobile companies has cooked up yet another scheme to make a cash grab and screw it's customers
I fixed it for you. No provider is perfect. They are doing it like all the others. Your home internet included. | |
| | | | | Re: Look out no, this thread is about verizon. verizon has done it before and they continue to do it again again. Nickle, Dime and screw customers every day. | |
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decifal
join:2007-03-10
Bon Aqua, TN
kudos:1 Reviews:
 ·Verizon Broadban..
| Rid Might as well get rid of any fun devices.. Whatever fun you were having is about to be pay per smile.. Top this off with advertisements coming on your phone when you get near certain stores and i'll scream "back to basics" on phones.. Some of you have to have your kung fu grip, face book apps and overly hyped important calenders on your device.. But for the prices they are wanting and the daunting of the new wave of pest called "cloud computing".. This is a joke..
Not only is our internet becoming capped because of greed. We will eventualy be forced to download our applications everytime we freaking want to use them?!?!
Tell me we are not on a quick path of drowning on the fail boat and i'll show you pictures of the soo called unsinkable titanic! | |
|  Defiance82Computer ElitePremium
join:2002-09-11
Burlington, WI
·Time Warner Cable
·Suddenlink
| hmm This would be a great reason to cancel a contract. They would be changing the terms for which we signed up under. Who to jump to next... There are only a few with "unlimited" data plans around still.
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Affordable Web-Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Ventrilo, & Teamspeak services since 1999 @ »www.deadlyservers.com | |
| | | if If they start doing tiered data, I want them to block all the Damn google advertising banners and alllow me to block app communications Including gps course and location data...that includes the fake stuff. If I've gotta pay for the bandwidth, those apps and ads shouldn't get a free ride on my dime.
Kind of sad, I was excited about getting a new dual core droid with Webtop when it becomes available later in the year but reading this announcement gives me pause. If it's real expensive or not a good deal, it may be time to switch back to a plain jane phone. A smart phone with data is great to have but it is not a necessity, especially in this economy. | |
|  travmcgee
join:2002-04-29
Mechanicsville, VA
kudos:1
·Comcast
| Smart Phone Plans I could really enjoy a smartphone; It's only a dollar a day.
But the more I think about it,, that $30 is better in my wallet then in Verizon's wallet.
I'll just keep on using my dumb phone. Call me cheap but in this economy the way jobs and salaries are,,, well,, I'm cheap then.
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"The gene pool needs a little chlorine" | |
| | | | Re: Smart Phone Plans said by travmcgee:I could really enjoy a smartphone; It's only a dollar a day.
But the more I think about it,, that $30 is better in my wallet then in Verizon's wallet.
I'll just keep on using my dumb phone. Call me cheap but in this economy the way jobs and salaries are,,, well,, I'm cheap then.
I'm with you.
I'll stick with my dumb phone. I got a cell phone to make calls with, everything else I can do on my computer.
Of course those who can't live without streaming movies, music, and the like will be shrieking how they can't do without. Fine by me. Then prepare to pay... and pay... and pay... Verizon is like the neighborhood crack dealer. They know you'll pony up whatever it costs to get your fix.
Verizon is rich enough. I'd rather have that extra money in wallet too, to maybe splurge on a nice dinner out or something. | |
| | |  pnjunctionTeksavvy ExtremePremium
join:2008-01-24
Toronto, ON
kudos:1 | Re: Smart Phone Plans Try to be less poor, then you could watch the streaming movies during the nice dinner out. 
Myself I eat dinner in but I spend more on yummy lunches in a week than my data costs for the month.
Would I like it cheaper? Of course, I'd like my lunches and groceries (that I spend about 10x as much money on as mobile data) to be cheaper too. I had to jump on the limited time 6GB for $30 promo up here to get anything resembling a decent deal. | |
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| | With WiFi - why do I still need a data plan? With my DROID smartphone - why do I need a data plan if I can use WiFi frequently enough? | |
| | | ETF So... If I sign a 2 year contract while LTE is $29.99 unlimited, I'm locked into that price for 2 years or they have to wave the ETF? | |
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