Verizon Planning Speed-based Prices for 4G Data?

[JMcEntegart]

Need for speed? Verizon users could soon pay for faster data speeds.

Verizon Planning Speed-based Prices for 4G Data? : Read more

 

[IM0001]

"If you want to pay for less speed, you'll pay for less speed and consume more, or you can pay for high speed and consume less," Shammo said yesterday.

What the heck does this even mean? If you have a slow speed, and used it at it's max speed for a month, you will have downloaded X amount of data. If you have a faster speed and use it at it's full speed for a month it will be Y but it will not be less than X.. Soooo Yes with a faster speed you can get more done quicker if your not using it the entire time, but saying you will consume less is just stupid. Stop limiting people on how much we use and just make it unlimited and speed based dangit.

 

[kriswitak]

I think this would be pretty interesting actually, as a college student I would love to have a smart phone so I wouldn't have to whip out my laptop whenever I want to check something on campus. I just can't afford the data plans that they have on smartphones these days.

If I could get the slowest/cheapest data speed plan then I would. I would only be using wifi 80% of the time anyway seeing as my campus is covered by wifi most everywhere I would go.

 

[house70]

Well, that speaks volumes regarding the Verizon's policies. They are not designed to serve the customers, just their own pockets. All the people that migrated from AT&T to Verizon in hope of getting better treatment just got stiffed once more.
I personally do not see an end to this, as the Telcom companies practically own the regulators. There is not enough leverage for the consumer in this country to fight this.

 

[cadder]

charging users based on the speed they're getting

Almost every provider of internet service actually PROVIDES significantly less speed than they promise. So this would cut everyone's bill overnight. (My home "high speed" internet would become almost free! Sometimes it's slower than dialup.) Definitely my ATT 3G phone rarely goes faster than a crawl.

I'm sure they will come up with new definitions of "speed".

 

[cadder]

kriswitak-
You can get a $15 data plan from ATT and just rely on wifi when it is available. For that matter you could buy an ipod touch, even the older one, and use it only on wifi, instead of using your laptop. If you have a simcard-phone, you could buy an iphone3g used, put in your sim card, and use it as a normal phone plus use it on wifi.

 

[tntom]

I would rather get full speed and be charged dynamically based on how fast their network is performing. Tier 1 plan: So if I download 5GB and the network delivers it at an average of 3Mbs I get charged $10 dollars for the month. But if I download 5GB and the network delivers that at an average of 12Mbs then charge me $40 for the month. Tier 2 plan: I choose to be limited to to 3Mbs and pay $15/mo.

 

[Blessedman]

The risk to reward of this decision is to great and this will never happen.

 

[jimmysmitty]

If its unlimited data then I think it could work. I wouldn't mind a speed tier pricing. But I don't see anyone whos using 3G going to the lowest LTE speed. 3G has the ability to provide up to 3MB/s up and down so I think it would go for those who want faster than that.

But considering that most smart phones have WiFi abilities (my Ally has 802.11b/g/n) it would might be better to have just a flat rate. The only advantage 3G or LTE will have is that it will cover more ground than a WiFi link will. Still even with 12Mbps, a 802.11g WiFi link on a 25Mbps ISP link will be better.

Oh choices......

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

makes sense they do it for your ISP services.

 

[TheKurrgan]

Frankly this would be the best option. By limiting speed you get an idea of how much a person CAN use, and can build accordingly. Not to mention the LTE spectrum allows for much more flexibility on capacity, and frankly "4G" will not have the same limitations as 3g therefore the current limited data plans would simply not make sense. For example, what good is a 12mbit per second connection if you can only use 250 MB in a 30 day period? Considering at 12Mbit, you can blow that entire wad in just under 6 minutes if you foolishly download a large program or something.. A speed based price seems to make much more sense to me, and much more fair.

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

Not to mention most people don't torrent on their phone and just need internet access for email or to upload a facebook image which are typically a 100k.

 

[kinggraves]

[citation][nom]house70[/nom]Well, that speaks volumes regarding the Verizon's policies. They are not designed to serve the customers, just their own pockets. All the people that migrated from AT&T to Verizon in hope of getting better treatment just got stiffed once more. I personally do not see an end to this, as the Telcom companies practically own the regulators. There is not enough leverage for the consumer in this country to fight this.[/citation]

You show me a business that isn't made to make money and I'll introduce you to a poor businessman. This really sounds like they're looking for a different business model BECAUSE people are not happy with the data tiers, which benefits them as well, because happy customers means more sales. Your statement that the consumer has no leverage is also incorrect, because consumers always have the option to take their business elsewhere. If you don't like how a business is run, STOP GIVING THEM YOUR BUSINESS. They'll change pretty fast because they need customers to make a profit.

With that being said though, I'd have to see some numbers to really know if this is beneficial. The line about consuming less with a faster speed sounds more like a data AND speed based plan, this is only good if it's based on speed only. It also depends on whether the pricing is competitive with current data tiers. Speed tiers could ease some strain on the entire network. Data tiers force people who want to get the most out of their caps to download mainly before their cap is reset, Speed tiers would encourage people to download when it's convenient for them while still putting some restraint on their usage.

 

[kezix_69]

Sprint has unlimited data plans that are cheap. Are they the only ones? What's the problem?

 

[jshcastle]

it seems like no one read the line " charging users based on speed rather than data consumption."
RATHER than data consumption. meaning you would be billed in a similar way as a home internet connection. given the new 4g networks, im not surprised that verizon i going this path. the way i see it, they just got a nice big bandwidth capability boost and they are going to use it to their advantage to entice new customers

 

[User69]

All companies should charge based on data used and have a cap at the consumers desire. So if I get 2 GB at $10/month and use less than 2 GB I will get a prorated charge of less then $10. If I desire more GB then I will pay the extra money at my choice. The current system sets you up to get overage charges and get very limited GB.
Basically the cellular company figures out the average most people use, then charge a very high price. Or they find out a amount of data that your most likely to go over and charge a slightly lower price for that plan in hopes they can gauge you on overages. Solution? Nationwide Wi-Fi using no cellular data or bandwidth with free internet and phone calls and put the cell phone super-monopoly out of business.

 

[jshcastle]

and who would PAY for this nationwide "wifi"?(wifi by the way is short range, if you wanted nationwide wifi you would need millions and millions of hotspots) dont we all wish your solution would happen, but i have yet to see some billionaire or wealthy company just up and donate a network of that magnitude, and then offer to service it among other things. people need to do the research on things like this before making wild assumptions.

 

[eddieroolz]

This actually isn't a half bad idea, as long as the data caps are removed or is at least raised to a reasonable value.

 

[pangedit]

"If you want to pay for less speed, you'll pay for less speed and consume more, or you can pay for high speed and consume less"

This phrase is so confusing.

So theyre planning on putting a plan for slow speeds with unlimited data usage and high speed plans with a cap?

 

[User69]

[citation][nom]jshcastle[/nom]and who would PAY for this nationwide "wifi"?(wifi by the way is short range, if you wanted nationwide wifi you would need millions and millions of hotspots) dont we all wish your solution would happen, but i have yet to see some billionaire or wealthy company just up and donate a network of that magnitude, and then offer to service it among other things. people need to do the research on things like this before making wild assumptions.[/citation]

First off, your kind of an idiot and second - in the near future internet is such a vital function and essential for economic growth and prosperity that there are plans in the making to have whole country internet access. Use your imagination how that would happen, think really hard this time.