Verizon looking at non-unlimited plans for 4G data, will use LTE for voice by 2012 -- Engadget yea ill keep the 10$ fee
I have a feeling its going to be ugly. Probably a certain amount per GB. For the low data users it will be welcome, but forget ever tethering or really streaming videos or other data intense things.
I posted this on another thread, besides the point, but YES... Ill happily pay the fee and enjoy my Evo to its fullest potential
Problem is, they have the "Coverage" that everyone wants. Basically their motto is "As long as we have good service coverage and decent customer service....we can keep changing plans and prices all we want". Add in the fact that usually....aside from the iPhone, and soon enough, the EVO.....Verizon always has some of the hottest phones. Sprint, if your listening, this summer is your chance to capitalize big... 1. keep improving customer service 2. get these 4G markets up and stable 3. DO NOT prolong Froyo for the EVO 4. ???? 5. PROFIT
Don't be so sure Sprint isn't going to do the same thing. Hesse was strongly hinting at paying by the gigabyte at CTIA.
I dont think so....it is well known that WiMax can handle huge bandwidths, and is cheaper in maintenance, and that is why, as of now, Sprint went with WiMax and not LTE. WiMax helps take the stress off of 3G, which is still needed for CDMA, until LTE is in full phase. So I cant see Sprint, who is now charging $10 MRC for uncapped....to go back to being capped and tiered. OFFTOPIC.....my 200th post lol
Dont go too far out with that, I do not think they will not start charging for lte until late 2013-2014. Once they start turning of voice, they will start charging for mins. Wimax will help take the stress off lte too. I am pretty sure of that.
You might want to listen to his CTIA address again. Or check this out: Sprint CEO: We're Moving From Voice Minutes To Gigabytes Used - Et tu, Hesse? - dslreports.com
Hesse's playing poker. If Sprint tries to go anywhere near the others, it might as well close up shop. VZW and ATT have almost 2x the subscribers, and no matter what they do they'll still stay millions ahead of Sprint. If I'm Hesse, I poker-play right with the others and then slip the "nope, not us" in once they publish their tiered fiascos. You can bet that tiered pricing will be an industry standard, but it's also going to be a double-edged sword because people buy in terms of total value for service. Trying to go back to per GB just means they're never going to be able to sell long-term contracts. In the end, I don't see tiered getting a warm reception. And if VZW or ATT float the plan and a few analysts think it's problematic, then it'll never get off the ground.
Sprint always seems to follow the other carriers, just later behind. I have a feeling the data charge will be enough to keep Sprint from charging for tiered-data plans for at least a couple more years, but if Sprint sees that tiered-data plans are becoming much more profitable and successful, it will probably eventually follow suit. (But hopefully not)
I think tiered plans are going to work against the carriers. Consumers see data as a commodity that should get cheaper over time which directly goes against the carriers. Even more, a lot of what comes through downloads are ad- or junk-enhanced, and I don't see that changing. I can just hear us all screaming "I'm not paying a cent extra for these downloads that have too much unrelated and unwanted data attached." The carriers can't stop the general web-bloat and are certainly not going to be able to charge for it.
Huh...I think in the past few years it has been the opposite.. Meaning Sprint has actually jumped on things before the big two (T-mobile. Has as well) because they have had to... Hence the dive into Simply everything plans and unlimited mobile 2 mobile.... The Palm Pre, Android, better selection of Smart phones (IMHO)... verizon and AT&T sat back and saw what the stabling blocks were and then lowered some pricing, got Android, updated their Smart Phone selection (Verizon did anyway, outside of the iPhone AT&T is garbage, again my opinion). Sprint has launched the first 4g network in The US albeit not nationwide but they still made the foray in before the big two... My hope is that Sprint learns to do what Verizon does so well.... Marketing. The Palm Pre could have been a great marketing push for them but both Sprint and Palm are very weak in that department, which is a shame.
