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Verizon Hints At Scrapping Unlimited Data Plans

Posted by Soulskill on from the where-are-the-antitrust-watchdogs dept.

BusinessWeek reports that Verizon may be preparing to follow AT&T's example by eliminating unlimited data plans later this year. Quoting: "'We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate,' John Killian, chief financial officer of Verizon Communications Inc., the wireless unit’s parent, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York today. The company anticipates 'explosions in data traffic' over wireless networks as new phones on 4G networks incorporate data-heavy applications, such as video downloads, he said. Verizon is working to keep its network running smoothly as more of its customers switch to smartphones that connect to the Internet. ... 'The more bandwidth that you make available, the faster it will be consumed,' said Craig Moffett, analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. 'From Verizon’s perspective, the last thing you want is for another generation of consumers to be conditioned to the idea that data is always going to be uncapped.'"

3 of 319 comments (clear)

  1. Unlimited already means 5G by wesw02 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Verizon's current unlimited plans aren't actually unlimited, they translate to 5G per month, if you exceed it you'll be fined. IMHO that's already a class action waiting to happen. This just sucks though, cell phone carriers charge more for internet and you are getting less of it.

  2. Re:Why not raise the price instead? by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Who are you to decide what someone else deserves? Unless you are a voting shareholder you have no valid opinion on the matter.

    I'm entitled to my opinion, and so are you.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Phone companies wet dream by hpa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The monopoly telephone companies have always been obsessed with getting users to pay by the usage unit, even when flat pricing made them more money. It does seem to reflect their thinking more than profit maximization; one possibility is that they have a vastly exaggerated notion of the inadequacies of their own plant, or alternatively they are suffering from lottery-style thinking -- the executives have happy dreams about the poor sucker who left their phone connected and got a $10,000 bill.

    In the USA, at least, flat-rate long distance did not become common until it got to be way too easy to bypass the monopolists.