Enterprise Mobility Featured Article
February 20, 2008
Mobile Unlimited Calling Plans: Bigger Impact on Data?
By Gary KimNow that three of the four largest U.S. mobile carriers have introduced unlimited voice plans, it is reasonable to expect a broader industry change in voice packaging overall, in the direction of flat fee usage.
Just under the surface, an equally important change could be happening on the mobile broadband front. As part of the introduction of new voice plans, Verizon (News - Alert), for example, is changing packaging for its data card services, adding a “lighter user plan” costing about $40 a month for use of 50 megabytes. Up to this point Verizon has offered a one-size-fits-all plan with a cap of about 5 Gbytes costing $60 a month.
The new option features overage charges of about $1 a megabyte for users of the $40 plan and 50 cents a megabyte for users of the new $60 a month plan, each with a bucket of 50 Mbytes. The point is that the lower price points should stimulate more people to buy data card plans.
The change might also reflect a belief on Verizon’s part that rival carriers Sprint Nextel (News - Alert) and at&t Wireless, which have offered lighter user options, are getting traction with those packages.
AT&T, for example, offers plans with buckets as low as 5 Mbytes, 10 Mbytes, 20 Mbytes or 50 Mbytes of usage. The at&t 50 Mbyte option costs $45, or $40 when bundled with a mobile phone plan, with a two cents per megabyte overage charge.
The net change is that Verizon Wireless is now more in step with competitors in offering both a low and high-end usage plan to target different customer segments. That’s a tactical change. The strategic change is a move towards buckets of usage for data, and away from “unlimited” usage, even as voice moves in the opposite direction.
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Gary Kim (News - Alert) is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
For all the latest enterprise IP
communications, unified communications, and contact center news, please click here.
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
Today’s featured White Paper (News - Alert) is titled Security Considerations for an IP PBX and Contact Center, brought to you by Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert).
Just under the surface, an equally important change could be happening on the mobile broadband front. As part of the introduction of new voice plans, Verizon (News - Alert), for example, is changing packaging for its data card services, adding a “lighter user plan” costing about $40 a month for use of 50 megabytes. Up to this point Verizon has offered a one-size-fits-all plan with a cap of about 5 Gbytes costing $60 a month.
The new option features overage charges of about $1 a megabyte for users of the $40 plan and 50 cents a megabyte for users of the new $60 a month plan, each with a bucket of 50 Mbytes. The point is that the lower price points should stimulate more people to buy data card plans.
The change might also reflect a belief on Verizon’s part that rival carriers Sprint Nextel (News - Alert) and at&t Wireless, which have offered lighter user options, are getting traction with those packages.
AT&T, for example, offers plans with buckets as low as 5 Mbytes, 10 Mbytes, 20 Mbytes or 50 Mbytes of usage. The at&t 50 Mbyte option costs $45, or $40 when bundled with a mobile phone plan, with a two cents per megabyte overage charge.
The net change is that Verizon Wireless is now more in step with competitors in offering both a low and high-end usage plan to target different customer segments. That’s a tactical change. The strategic change is a move towards buckets of usage for data, and away from “unlimited” usage, even as voice moves in the opposite direction.
----------
Gary Kim (News - Alert) is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
For all the latest enterprise IP
communications, unified communications, and contact center news, please click here.Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users.
Today’s featured White Paper (News - Alert) is titled Security Considerations for an IP PBX and Contact Center, brought to you by Interactive Intelligence (News - Alert).
