AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega recently stirred up a hornet's nest by explicitly suggesting that usage based pricing could soon kick in as a means to counter the high bandwidth consumption by smartphone users who have played a big role in congesting the AT&T network infrastructure.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, AT&T has dismissed the speculation of usage based pricing.
Wall Street Journal reported:
A senior AT&T Inc. executive dismissed speculation that the telecommunications carrier is planning to change the way it prices data plans for its wireless customers, but said it will give customers incentives to limit their use of its wireless network for surfing the Internet or downloading mobile applications.
"We have not made any decision to implement tiered pricing," AT&T Mobility Chief Executive Ralph de la Vega said Wednesday, referring to plans that would charge based on how much data a customer uses rather than the unlimited plans that are popular today.
Though he seems to be downplaying his earlier suggestion of usage based pricing, he doesn’t appear to have ruled out the possibility.
According to Ralph de la Vega, AT&T will explore other methods to reduce load on their cellular network such as increasing the free Wi-Fi hotspots and wider rollout of its 3G MicroCell service, which allows wireless subscribers to utilize their home Internet connection for enhanced voice and data coverage.
It makes a lot more sense to offer incentive to users who use less data. It will be interesting to see what AT&T has to offer for such customers.
Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
[via WSJ (Subscription required)]
i use a lot of internet myself , but not enough to be paying $30 per month , they need to have unlimited plan and customized plan as well . i think that would work the best..
They charge me more or get rid of the Internet plan and I switch to an Android phone on another network.
They have brought it upon them selves, they gave no other option to iPhone users/Buyers rather than the $30 plan. Now they complaining? f**k them, What are they expecting? If you forced to take the unlimited plan and you have no other choice, than mine as well, use it as much as you can.
They should have thought about it from the begin with.
From my opinion AT&T Were too cocky from the beginning and were blind sided to the fact that their Network might get congested if the number of iPhone useres sky rocketed. But NO they just cared about having the iPhone…
IPHONEHACKS.COM NEEDS TO READ THEIR OWN ARTICLES. METERED PRICING CAN COME IN MULTIPLE FORMS SUCH AS A TIERED SYSTEM. I PAY $30/ MONTH FOR UNLIMITED NOW, BUT MAY PAY MORE FOR UNLIMITED LATER… ALSO OBVIOUSLY SENIOR AT&T EXECUTIVE DIDNT RULE OUT THE POSSIBILITY OF "METERED PRICING" WHEN HE IS PLANNING ON COMING OUT WITH DIFFERENT PRICES BASED ON HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO USE A MONTH. IPHONEHACKS IS MAKING IT SEEM THAT THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE IS DOING US A FAVOR. HE ISNT HE IS ALL FOR METERED PRICING, BUT IN A DIFFERENT FORM.
Calm down beavis
Heh heh heh eh he heh heh heh!