Wall Street Journal Realizes Wireless is Expensive Consumers Starting to Feel Smartphone Pinch The Wall Street Journal has discovered that wireless services are expensive and becoming more so. The paper cites new Labor Department data showing that spending on phone services jumped 4% last year, with the average family now paying $1,226 annually -- significantly more if the home has more than one smartphone. The article posits that we're about due for a consumer reaction to these hikes, with users starting to either trim back on wireless bills (slowing growth) or look elsewhere to cut household costs: Much of the revenue growth that industry executives and investors are hoping for is likely to come from higher-income households that do have the money to spend more on wireless data. But the wireless industry also generates a lot of revenue from lower-income users....As wireless service gets more expensive, the trade-offs become more painful. That could threaten to further crimp consumer spending elsewhere—or slow the upward swing in consumer spending on wireless. The Journal's amazing discovery comes on the heels of a study showing that 50% of wireless customers pay more than $100 a month, with 21% paying more for wireless than they do for groceries each month. Another recent study found that many carriers are over-estimating the amount of data consumed, and as a result are over-billing users for data consumption. These high prices aren't expected to abate anytime soon -- particularly as grandfathered unlimiited data users get shoved toward AT&T and Verizon's new shared data plans and pricier $15 per gigabyte overages. While the Journal has discovered that wireless services are expensive, the article seems to attribute these higher prices to magic -- and not thanks to duopoly dominance of the sector. Granted plenty of blame falls on the shoulders of consumers not willing to investigate the scattered lower-priced options that are available to them. Many of our regulars still flock to smaller, less-known carriers like Millenicom to save a buck, and there's a slew of new MVNOs (Ting, Republic Wireless) and no-contract prepaid companies who are desperately trying to shake up high-price gridlock.
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 elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA | News? The article features Verizon iPhone subscribers.
Back-of-the-napkin estimates for VZW iPhone is $120/month for one phone, slightly less for multiples.
Not sure how this qualifies as news. Verizon has always been the premium carrier, with not quite half of America's contracting customers choosing to pay more for the perceived quality of their service. Likewise for Apple - the masses are willing to pay a hefty price to have the latest fashion trend.
No one is forced to buy a "smart phone", sign a contract, or choose a contract carrier. | |
|  |  timcuthBraves FanPremium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL
 ·AT&T Southeast
| Re: News? A few months ago, my oldest son got an AT&T iPhone. The family phone bill is now up by about $25-30 per month.  In his defense, he did give us $300 to pay for the increased bill.
Personally, I don't want a smart phone (for this very reason). Hell, I dont really even want my non-smart phone.
Tim
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"Life is like this long line, except at the end there ain't no merry-go-round." - Arthur on The King of Queens
~ Project Hope ~ | |
| | | | | Re: News? said by timcuth:Personally, I don't want a smart phone (for this very reason). Hell, I dont really even want my non-smart phone.
Tim
In my case, I have to have a phone as there is no land line at my house. My other roommates have cell phones as well. I don't care for having a smart phone as well, but I can tell (as you probably can) the kinds of non-smart phones being put out are pure crap/junk.
Ever since hearing about the Samsung Galaxy SIII (and the good reviews), I've been wanting one. Until they get rid of their data plan requirement (I know, when hell freezes over), then I might get a smart phone.
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Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. Robert Orben
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| | | | timcuthBraves FanPremium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL Reviews:
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: News? said by Boricua65:I don't care for having a smart phone as well, but I can tell (as you probably can) the kinds of non-smart phones being put out are pure crap/junk.
Probably, but my phone is old (2007 model) and it is actually pretty nice. It is a Samsung A-717 3G phone of good quality. I've never even needed to replace the battery (knock on wood).
Tim
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"Life is like this long line, except at the end there ain't no merry-go-round." - Arthur on The King of Queens
~ Project Hope ~ | |
| | | |  japPremium
join:2003-08-10
038xx
1 edit | said by Boricua65:Ever since hearing about the Samsung Galaxy SIII (and the good reviews), I've been wanting one. Until they get rid of their data plan requirement (I know, when hell freezes over) No penalty for smart phones on T-Mobile. Services (voice, sms, data) are sold ala carte same price regardless of device. I pre-pay flat $30/mo for 1500 mins + 30MB of data + SMS disabled at network level. Only US network I know of that allows SMS=off. Haven't ever logged-in to data network. National service.
Phone is basic old flip model but intend to test an bleeding edge Android on it sometime this winter. Goal is to assess to what extent it can be made to play desktop substitute using large display + WiFi and still be a voice-only phone. | |
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| | | | said by timcuth:Personally, I don't want a smart phone (for this very reason). Hell, I dont really even want my non-smart phone.
If you really use your phone very little, perhaps you should consider one of the prepaid services.
T-Mobile will give you 1000 minutes for $100 for a whole year. If you use VoIP at home, work in an office, and don't particularly like to browse the web on a 4-inch screen, then 1000 minutes might very well last you a whole year.
The tradeoff is coverage. There is no roaming service on prepaid. | |
| | | | sk1939Premium
join:2010-10-23
Washington, DC
kudos:9 | Re: News? Roaming service in general isn't a bargain, it costs quite a bit to roam (or used to). | |
| | | | timcuthBraves FanPremium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL Reviews:
·AT&T Southeast
| said by tanzam75:said by timcuth:Personally, I don't want a smart phone (for this very reason). Hell, I dont really even want my non-smart phone.
If you really use your phone very little, perhaps you should consider one of the prepaid services. T-Mobile will give you 1000 minutes for $100 for a whole year. If you use VoIP at home, work in an office, and don't particularly like to browse the web on a 4-inch screen, then 1000 minutes might very well last you a whole year. The tradeoff is coverage. There is no roaming service on prepaid. Thanks, but as I am with the rest of my family on a family plan, my personal part of the service costs me only $10/mo plus taxes and fees. And I have unlimited roaming and nationwide long distance. So, switching to prepaid would do me very little good and could end up costing me.
Tim
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"Life is like this long line, except at the end there ain't no merry-go-round." - Arthur on The King of Queens
~ Project Hope ~ | |
| | | | Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| That's the plan that my wife and I have used since 2006 and it's great. Yes, the coverage is not the greatest, but we don't live and die by our cell phones thus the plan is perfect. We would love get smart phones, but until the pricing plans come down to earth we're good. | |
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| | | |  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: News? Premium as in coverage and quality. AT&T may charge the same as Verizon, but it is an inferior product. | |
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| bemis
join:2008-07-18
Reading, MA Reviews:
·Comcast
 ·Verizon FiOS
| No one is forced to buy a "smart phone", sign a contract, or choose a contract carrier.
I think my biggest issue is that in 2005-2007 I had a data card for my PC. I paid $60/mo for data. At the time this was rare enough to have, business users might have it, but not much else.
The prices for these services have increased as more users have started using them.... this is not typically the way pricing of these sorts of services work.
The industry is taking advantage of the fact that people feel like they "need" these things today. There is collusion among the 3-4 US wireless carriers to keep their prices high and about the same. With no actual competition there is no way for prices to drop. | |
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| | Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse Enjoy it when it hits, AT&T and Verizon.
These prices are obscene. | |
| |  jester121Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse If that was the case the latest iPhone wouldn't have sold out the first day.
I prefer to have freedom in the marketplace so I can decide for my family what we'll spend on toys. | |
| | | | | Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse The same people are buying iPhones over and over again.
Eventually, Apple will get them poor enough. | |
| | | | jester121Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse They're technology users, not heroin addicts. No victims here, nothing to grieve about, move along. | |
| | | | |  Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse said by jester121:They're technology users, not heroin addicts. Most Apple fanbois would sell their soul for the latest iDevice. | |
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| | | elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA | said by osravens:Enjoy it when it hits, AT&T and Verizon.
These prices are obscene.
No, they aren't, otherwise, people would not pay them. | |
| | | | | Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse said by elray:said by osravens:These prices are obscene.
No, they aren't, otherwise, people would not pay them. Yeah, they kinda are. Talk to people in Europe, Asia and elsewhere--in many other parts of the world consumers get much more than we do, for much less money.
People pay what they pay here because they need the service and they've no other options, or because they (think they) have money to burn.
Jim | |
| | | | Reviews:
 ·T-Mobile US
·Sprint Mobile Br..
| Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse said by jseymour:said by elray:said by osravens:These prices are obscene.
No, they aren't, otherwise, people would not pay them. Yeah, they kinda are. Talk to people in Europe, Asia and elsewhere--in many other parts of the world consumers get much more than we do, for much less money. People pay what they pay here because they need the service and they've no other options, or because they (think they) have money to burn. Jim This is absolutely not true. They are paying alot more in europe for less than we are here. Example, bought a few sims for Orange when we were in the UK (to talk to each other in UK), £30 or $48 got us 300 mins and 300 texts and I think we could get picture messages but no data. And the people that called us had to pay more, and we had to pay for the 0800 numbers that we could call from landlines for free.
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| | | | | sk1939Premium
join:2010-10-23
Washington, DC
kudos:9 Reviews:
·T-Mobile US
| Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse You do know that calling such numbers = international calling on all sides right? I have a Vodafone sim that I use when I'm in the UK, but I know that people dialing a UK number from the US = international call. Likewise calling a 1-800 number from the UK... | |
| | | | | | Reviews:
·T-Mobile US
·Sprint Mobile Br..
| Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse said by sk1939:You do know that calling such numbers = international calling on all sides right? I have a Vodafone sim that I use when I'm in the UK, but I know that people dialing a UK number from the US = international call. Likewise calling a 1-800 number from the UK...
Yes, I am aware of that. I am talking about people from the US paying .59/min to call a cell phone instead of .29/min to call a landline in the UK and the 0800 (not 1-800) toll free UK numbers charging you about .20/min on cells and toll-free on landline.
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| | | | | | | | | Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse U know there are calling card plans, skype, att call international that have landline calls to uk for $0.04 and .29 to cell phones. I used att call app and I think it was good quality. | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | One experience, with one kind of service, in one country, whereas my sources are my many on-line colleagues and family in Europe. They live there. I think they know what they're paying for mobile services. As with broadband and subscription TV: They are all often astonished at what we get for what we pay--and I don't mean in an envious way.
said by bobjohnson:They are paying alot more in europe for less than we are here. Example, bought a few sims for Orange when we were in the UK The U.K. is not "Europe" and one-off pre-paid SIMS are not the same as post-paid.
said by bobjohnson:And the people that called us had to pay more, "Caller pays" in the U.K., Europe and most of the rest of the world. That's why, for most of the world, mobile phones are in pre-determined prefix'. (I think the system is lame, but that's what it is.)
said by bobjohnson:and we had to pay for the 0800 numbers that we could call from landlines for free.
What's an "0800 number?"
Jim | |
| | | | | | Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
·Mediacom
·T-Mobile US
| Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse Im from Europe too (Poland) and I have some acquaintances and families there. While Poland isn't considered Western Europe, its the largest market in Central (or Eastern) Europe that has grown a lot and continues to grow. Over there cell phone services are still more expensive than in the US.
said by jseymour:said by bobjohnson:This is absolutely not true.
One experience, with one kind of service, in one country, whereas my sources are my many on-line colleagues and family in Europe. They live there. I think they know what they're paying for mobile services. As with broadband and subscription TV: They are all often astonished at what we get for what we pay--and I don't mean in an envious way.
Users don't get as much minutes or especially unlimited for the price we get, but they do have free incoming calls. Only calling party pays for calling. Also landline phones pay more if they call cell phones, unless maybe if they are in the same network (like Orange). said by bobjohnson:They are paying alot more in europe for less than we are here. Example, bought a few sims for Orange when we were in the UK The U.K. is not "Europe" and one-off pre-paid SIMS are not the same as post-paid. Ive seen data plans there from t-mobile UK starting as low 10GBP, but the data allowance low too, typically starting at 250mb, with max 1.5gb cellular data (3GB limit for wifi). ATT basic wifi here is unlimited regardless of plan. T-Mobile Poland (former Era) is very pricey. The plan for iphone 4 (iphone 5 coming there tomorrow) with unlimited text, sms/mms and 2GB is 140zl for invididual with upfront cost for phone 500zl. That is a lot of money there. said by bobjohnson:And the people that called us had to pay more, "Caller pays" in the U.K., Europe and most of the rest of the world. That's why, for most of the world, mobile phones are in pre-determined prefix'. (I think the system is lame, but that's what it is.) said by bobjohnson:and we had to pay for the 0800 numbers that we could call from landlines for free.
What's an "0800 number?" | |
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| | | | | | this is comparing apples to oranges :no pun intended:
buy the service from a local address and then compare.
if you are in the have side of life and live in an overseas location you will almost always pay a good deal less for almost everything. this includes phone service. quality is a different animal. ever seen a Mercedes with an non padded plastic seat. 230k luxury car U.S.
8k Taxi Africa. same steel different plastic. cheers.. U.S. is still preferred place to live just get some nads about the smart phones. | |
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| | Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | said by elray:said by osravens:These prices are obscene. No, they aren't, otherwise, people would not pay them. Ya, ask the Cable/Satellite companies that sell overpriced "content" to the suckers that want it.
Heck, even the Cable/Sat companies think it's ridiculous that the prices are going that high, but people want their content at any cost.
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Bresnan 30M/5M | CenturyLink 5M/896K
MyWS[PnmIIX3@3.3G,8G RAM,500G+1.5T+2T HDDs,Win7]
WifeWS[A64@2G,2G RAM,120G HDD,Win7]
Router[2xP3@1G,2G RAM,18G HDD,Allied Telesyn AT2560FX,2xDigital DE504,Sun X1034A,2xSun X4444A,SMC 8432BTA,Gentoo] | |
| | | | elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA | Re: Proof the Bubble's About to Collapse said by Simba7:said by elray:said by osravens:These prices are obscene. No, they aren't, otherwise, people would not pay them. Ya, ask the Cable/Satellite companies that sell overpriced "content" to the suckers that want it. Heck, even the Cable/Sat companies think it's ridiculous that the prices are going that high, but people want their content at any cost. No, people don't want their content "at any cost".
They're just willing to pay today's rates, which means the prices are set appropriately. | |
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| | yeah yeah yeah And from the next captain obvious report:
The sun makes it warm out. | |
|  YippzPremium
join:2005-05-04
Fort Walton Beach, FL | No reason to pay that much a year... What is really incredible is that people buy their phones with plans backwards. Only in the US and Canada do people walk into a cell service store to purchase service and a phone, the phone being secondary. In Europe you buy the phone you want and add service via SIM card from the carrier of your choice. Since the SIM card cell services vie for that ''golden SIM slot'' in the phone, they compete for the chance to get you to buy their service.
When phone users learn that doing it the other way, purchasing factory produced unlocked phone you want and then adding a cell service, such as an MVNO here in the US, you get the phone you want and affordable service without the hassles of contracts and locked/subsidized phones.
There is absolutely no reason, as the article states, that anyone should be paying $1226 annually for a smartphone, or even close to that. Heck, for those that don't use their phone that often, you can get a plan that cost around $8.33 a month without any added taxes or fees for talk and text.
As the knowledge makes it way to the masses, you'll see more and more people opting for GSM phones they own (smartphone or qwerty) and choosing from the MVNO table of options with the ability to move between carriers as the prices become more competitive.
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Yippz.com - Unlocked GSM Multi-SIM Smartphones and Android Mobile Phones | |
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See 12 replies to this post | |
Reviews:
·T-Mobile US
·Sprint Mobile Br..
1 edit |  Mvnos are the solution?
said by Karl Bode:Granted plenty of blame falls on the shoulders of consumers not willing to investigate the scattered lower-priced options that are available to them. Many of our regulars still flock to smaller, less-known carriers like Millenicom to save a buck, and there's a slew of new MVNOs (Ting, Republic Wireless) and no-contract prepaid companies who are desperately trying to shake up high-price gridlock.
I see this everywhere. Besides Metro PCS and Cricket are the only other flat rate carriers with their own network. So what do you think would happen if all the contract customers quit subsidizing the prepay, mvno customers? The big 4 could terminate contracts with the wholesalers just as quickly as it started. It wasn't that long ago that I was paying $100 for 700 mins and 1000 texts so it has gone down over the years. As they say, you get what you pay for.
Edit: Typing faster than I was thinking.
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See 6 replies to this post | |
 GorkOu812ic
join:2001-10-06
Bountiful, UT
 ·magicjack.com
| They'll rape us if we let 'em These companies are raping consumers, even just for basic cell phone service minus ANY data plans! I decided two years back that I lived without a cell phone for 30 years, proving it is NOT a necessity, and switched to VoIP only. When companies decide to charge what their service is worth instead of taking advantage of their customers I'll consider returning. If that doesn't happen (likely it'll go down that way) and I decide to go with a cell phone for the sake of convenience it'll be the afore mentioned pre-paid 1000m/$100 plan with T-Mobile. Assuming it's still available by then...
And yeah, as posted above, not really news to any of us I'm sure. | |
| Reviews:
·ooma
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FiOS
| meanwhile.. verizon's looking quite the fool for trying to be the company on wireless play... when they have to explain to investors why they priced themselves out of the wireless market after staking so much investment in it..
who wants to be the fly on the wall? | |
| | | duh look all the hype over phones creates a feeding frenzy and people forget about the mo cost. "Hey the new phone is only 199.00...cool" They are "giving the phones away" for insane prices. How do you think they are going to make that up? Thats right...its rape time. I keep saying the phone is not the issue. The phones should be free just so you use the damn service. ATT just throws costs on the bill to see if you object. If you bother to call and sit on hold they will take them off as bogus to begin with. The Win 8 phone is out in oct. (no one cares) after that its will be a year before google, apple, sammy or MS have anything "new" Then there will be grumbling about the bills.
In order to pay for my ATT family plan (two smart phones two dumb ones) I had to eliminate Fios tv and phone and go with internet fios only and do it yourself voip.
Sit down and total up all the "media and connection" costs per mo. that you have at your home or homes for all family members (dont even include elec costs). Now what are you getting out of it?
people got rid of land lines and fax lins (recall those) so the phone cos just jacked up cell rates.
You have to buck the trend and do whats smart. For now I am locked in on price. In year I may look at a wifi only mobile phone or a data only phone with a cheap carrier
If course if we go to wifi and dump LTE then they will jack that up
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Lakewood Accountability Action Group | »www.LAAG.us | Demanding action and accountability from local government
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| | Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT | Re: duh said by VerizonCynic:If course if we go to wifi and dump LTE then they will jack that up ..then if you're going WiFi only, why not just get a Galaxy Player and throw on a VoIP-compatible service or Skype? | |
|
bgraham
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY Reviews:
·VOIPo
·Verizon VoiceWing
| I Dumped my Cell a Year or so Ago If I was still traveling for a job, a $100 a month cell phone might be warranted, but I certainly won't pay that kind of money for a personal cell phone.
We were paying $66 a month for two phones. I dumped mine as the usage was 7 to 15 minutes a month and my wife switched to a pay as you go $20 a month 400 minute plan. I might switch that to a $20 for 90 days 200 minute plan as she only uses 50 or 60 minutes a month.
The world seems obsessed with cell phones. In the UK people on the subway watch for their bars as the train comes out of the underground tunnel. They are all commuters and they know that there are no bars until the same point every day, yet they still check their cell phones at the last underground station. At least they don't drive with a cell phone stuck in their ear like every other car here in NY.
We went to Italy last year and they are just as bad. I am sure that 99% of all conversations are worthless anyway.
Sure, I am going to pay $100 a month to get a message from the wife to pick up friggin lettuce and milk on the way home. | |
| | | | Re: I Dumped my Cell a Year or so Ago
Very well stated!
What we have here are a bunch of mindless consumers that are spoon fed the marketing propagenda that they NEED fancy smart phones and the expensive service that goes with it.
SHEEPLE indeed.
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 SlyPremium
join:2004-02-20
Chuckey, TN
kudos:1
·Callcentric
| Poor planning If people will just shop around they could spend MUCH less for a smartphone. I bought a phone outright for $50, no contract. Then I got a prepaid card with platinumtel. I downloaded a SIP phone application and have it tied to my VoIP line. I use data rather than voice for my phone calls since data is cheaper... When I'm within an open Wi-Fi (starbucks, hotels, just about anywhere), I connect through their internet connection and have voice calls for free.
Overall I spend on average $3-5 per month. | |
| b10010011Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
Bellingham, WA Reviews:
·Comcast Formerl..
| Pre-Paid is the only way to go I have been on Verizon prepaid for going on a decade now.
My cellular charges are about $15 a month.
Sure I don't have a smartphone, but I am smart enough to be able to get through the day without one. 
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Bellingham Scanner Kicks Ass! »bhamscanner.kicks-ass.org/ | |
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