AT&T CEO Warns That Metered Pricing On the Way
Comments made by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson during a recent investor conference indicate that metered data pricing is likely in the firm's future. Stephenson didn't say exactly how data pricing would be altered, nor when any change would take place, but he did say that the company will charge heavy users of its mobile data network more than those who use it infrequently. Stephenson also said that Apple's iPhone will be a key product for AT&T for "quite some time," which calls to question just how long the exclusive distribution agreement will last between Apple and AT&T. Stephenson reiterated that the company is taking measures to shore up its existing 3G network and believes HSPA will serve for several more years. "We're not in...
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I'd say move the 500mb to 1gb and you'd be better off. most iphone users I see use between 500mb-1gb in data. Data usage is only going to increase too.
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Sigma1570 said:
I'd say move the 500mb to 1gb and you'd be better off. most iphone users I see use between 500mb-1gb in data. Data usage is only going to increase too.
The whole point is to offer a lower price point FOR LESSER USERS, not to make all the current 500 - 1000 MB users pay less. If it does not invoke some sort of rationing/awareness in the people using the phones and paying the bills there's no point in offering a $19.99 price point- just put a hard cap on the current $29.99 offering if that's the line of thinking.
It would also encourage developers to put more transport optimizations in their code to reduce the number of bits that need to be transported. Apple may start implementing RIM/O...
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I'm saying if they are looking at driving the costs down. As much as I'm sure at&t would like a higher ARPU from their iphone customers, it would probably be bad for business to increase the average iphone customers bill especially once they lose exclusivity. I'd hope that they would tier it to only penalize the highest users. 1gb of usage really isn't that much these days for iphone users.
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The 3 GB plan could drop to $29.99, but I don't see the $19.99 become more valuable as an effective deterrent.
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I hope this becomes an industry wide trend. at&t would be taking a risk as an initial adopter. Most people are like a deer in headlights when you try and tell them how much a gigabyte in data transfer is. A lot of customers still think wireless internet is billed in time and not the data volume transferred.
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The problem is that no one is going to find their data bill going down. AT&T will cap current $30 accounts and generate revenue from overages. Anyone needing more than 500 mb of transfer per month will see tiered pricing that nearly doubles what they pay now.
I'm in agreement that unlimited data is a pretty bad concept when spectrum is a very finite resource. But AT&T and their peers will use this as a method to shore-up declining revenue from voice plans and SMS and treat this as a whole new profit line.
Think metered billing will save you money? Ha!
I'm in agreement that unlimited data is a pretty bad concept when spectrum is a very finite resource. But AT&T and their peers will use this as a method to shore-up declining revenue from voice plans and SMS and treat this as a whole new profit line.
Think metered billing will save you money? Ha!
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zentec said:
I'm in agreement that unlimited data is a pretty bad concept when spectrum is a very finite resource. But AT&T and their peers will use this as a method to shore-up declining revenue from voice plans and SMS and treat this as a whole new profit line.
Think metered billing will save you money? Ha!
I think the biggest side-effect from metered data use will be people actually going out of there way to connect to WiFi networks whenever available, and doing more download-for-later media consumption rather then continuous streaming ala Pandora and youtube.
It will also discourage people from cutting the cord entirely, leaving the market for DSL, cable and fiber optic deployments alive and ...
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I'll drop AT&T like a bad habit if they go tier'd data.
Then again... it depends on the structure. I doubt they'd be benevalent enough to actually let people go for cheaper rates than $30 a month.
Verizon or AT&T would get a new customer if AT&T forced me to pay more.
Then again... it depends on the structure. I doubt they'd be benevalent enough to actually let people go for cheaper rates than $30 a month.
Verizon or AT&T would get a new customer if AT&T forced me to pay more.
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WernerCD said:
Verizon or AT&T would get a new customer if AT&T forced me to pay more.
Huh? 😕
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CellStudent said:
It's about time. For handsets, I'm thinking something like:
No Plan== $0.001/KB ~$1.00/MB
250 MB == $9.99 + $0.05/MB ~$50/GB
500 MB = $19.99 + $0.05/MB ~$50/GB
3 GB === $39.99 + $0.05/MB ~$50/GB
5 GB === $59.99 + $0.03/MB ~$30/GB
10 GB == $99.99 + $0.03/MB ~$30/GB
Smartphones would probably be ineligible for the smaller plans, and have a $20 minimum like the iPhone 2G had. Also NO EXTRA CHARGE FOR TETHERING, just let it come out of the same bundle of data.
Looks like I called it pretty close (on the bundles at least):
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news ... »
New AT&T pricing:...
200MB == $15
400MB == $30
2 GB == $25
3 GB
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Good prediction!
i was initially thinking that 200MB was small, but I checked the last 6 months of my own usage. I am a heavy iPhone user and I am averaging 160MB per month.
Of course this doesn't count Wi-Fi usage!
AT&T says 65% of their data customers use less than 200MB per month on average and 98% of their data customers use less than 2GB per month on average. surprising.
i was initially thinking that 200MB was small, but I checked the last 6 months of my own usage. I am a heavy iPhone user and I am averaging 160MB per month.
Of course this doesn't count Wi-Fi usage!
AT&T says 65% of their data customers use less than 200MB per month on average and 98% of their data customers use less than 2GB per month on average. surprising.
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A few years ago, the average consumer using data on their device was laughable. now with verizon, 35-40% of their activations are data phones(mainly smartphones)
sure, the typical customer might only use less than 2gb now. But with better android phones and the Iphone 4th generation coming, and the push towards data, usage is going to skyrocket in the next year or so.
sure, the typical customer might only use less than 2gb now. But with better android phones and the Iphone 4th generation coming, and the push towards data, usage is going to skyrocket in the next year or so.
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Menno said:
sure, the typical customer might only use less than 2gb now. But with better android phones and the Iphone 4th generation coming, and the push towards data, usage is going to skyrocket in the next year or so.
...that 4G will NEVER replace landline internet connections in urban areas.
Any place that cables have already been laid in the ground will continue to be fixed wire dependent.
Forever.
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I'm not talking about 4g, I'm talking about 3g.
The Ipad has an app that allows for video streaming over 3g.
If you watch 4 movies a MONTH on the thing, you'll come close if not go WAY over even the 2gb limit, and that's without web browsing, or downloading anything else.
The Ipad has an app that allows for video streaming over 3g.
If you watch 4 movies a MONTH on the thing, you'll come close if not go WAY over even the 2gb limit, and that's without web browsing, or downloading anything else.
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restrict people to Wifi hotspots for that kind of stuff.
You didn't think that AT&T was going to stand for unlimited data for $30 a month did you?
Oh no sir'ree they won't.
I could, with a bit of restraint, go to the $25 plan.
That would cut out the cool stuff like Pandora tho... while driving to school/work...
Not that I will, but I could.
You didn't think that AT&T was going to stand for unlimited data for $30 a month did you?
Oh no sir'ree they won't.
I could, with a bit of restraint, go to the $25 plan.
That would cut out the cool stuff like Pandora tho... while driving to school/work...
Not that I will, but I could.
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The economics of cellular transmission are such that expecting anything more the 360p out of an on-demand personalized pipe is going to get really expensive really fast.
Shannon/Hartley says so.
Shannon/Hartley says so.
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