Verizon CEO: Shared Data Plans Are Coming this Summer Discussion

[Ed Hardy]

The CEO of Verizon has confirmed something that many of this company's subscribers have been hoping for for a long long time: they will soon be able to connect multiple devices to a single data plan.

Read the full content of this Article: Verizon CEO: Shared Data Plans Are Coming this Summer

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[Adama D. Brown]

I certainly hope this is reasonable. I've got an LTE tablet just waiting for a hook-up if Verizon brings this in for a reasonable cost, but then I have a hard time imagining that they're really going to cut a significant break on prices. Those $30 per smartphone fees are just too good for them to give up on easily.

[lelisa13p]

I certainly hope this is reasonable. I've got an LTE tablet just waiting for a hook-up if Verizon brings this in for a reasonable cost, but then I have a hard time imagining that they're really going to cut a significant break on prices. Those $30 per smartphone fees are just too good for them to give up on easily.

That would also explain why AT&T has been dragging its heels on discussing this option. Money trumps everything else.

[Adama D. Brown]

That would also explain why AT&T has been dragging its heels on discussing this option. Money trumps everything else.

Not to mention, knowing AT&T lately they probably want to wait and see what Verizon does. Once upon a time they might have tried to come in first to lure some people away from Verizon, maybe even by undercutting them on price, but AT&T's far too comfortable with their position now to do anything like that.

[rkevwill]

Yeah I hope ATT ends up doing this. If not, I may switch again, to Verizon. Lash me if you wish, but I still want to go back to a Blackberry for business use during the day. When I checked with ATT, they of course wanted to charge me two data plans, two phone plans, etc. Wouldn't even work with me on a "family" plan.

[RickAgresta]

Heck, what works for one doesn't work for all; truthfully, I still use my Palm 755p for a number of things, because even with the larger screen/better resolution of my DroidX, the implementation of DTG/QuickOffice is still painful with an on-screen kb and no stylus (especially for spreadsheets).

At the same time, I'm spoiled by being able to get info quickly & easily....

[jigwashere]

I certainly hope this is reasonable. I've got an LTE tablet just waiting for a hook-up if Verizon brings this in for a reasonable cost, but then I have a hard time imagining that they're really going to cut a significant break on prices. Those $30 per smartphone fees are just too good for them to give up on easily.

Do you really think Verizon will change their pricing structure (and increase data costs) to compensate? I would hope they'd simply offer data sharing under the current pricing.

Most customers use less than 2GB per month, if I remember correctly from recent reporting. When Verizon starts offering data sharing, instead of purchasing (for example) 2GB per phone, a family might purchase 5GB or even 10GB for all their phones.

While Verizon might take a hit on many of their plans initially, data sharing might encourage families who only have data on one or some of their phones to switch up and get smartphones for the whole family. In fact, I have a buddy who is the only member of his family with a data plan. The other 3 phones are feature phones with no data. They might consider switching all phones to smartphones and buying a slightly larger pool of data. This would result in more money for Verizon. Right?

[rkevwill]

Do you really think Verizon will change their pricing structure (and increase data costs) to compensate? I would hope they'd simply offer data sharing under the current pricing.

Most customers use less than 2GB per month, if I remember correctly from recent reporting. When Verizon starts offering data sharing, instead of purchasing (for example) 2GB per phone, a family might purchase 5GB or even 10GB for all their phones.

While Verizon might take a hit on many of their plans initially, data sharing might encourage families who only have data on one or some of their phones to switch up and get smartphones for the whole family. In fact, I have a buddy who is the only member of his family with a data plan. The other 3 phones are feature phones with no data. They might consider switching all phones to smartphones and buying a slightly larger pool of data. This would result in more money for Verizon. Right?

On my iPhone, I have the heavy duty data plan, with personal hot spot, that has 4 gigs. I have 1000 minutes talk time. I can't understand, why ATT won't let me have that same plan, divided by two phones, one my iPhone, and the other a Blackberry 9900. After RIM comes out with their next generation phones, providing they have a bold style phone with keyboard, I will be looking for a provider that will let me do just that. Of course, thats only if RIM actually survives, and the new OS isn't S**t. And, I want the same phone number for both. (which means I guess, I will need to use GoogleVoice again).

[Adama D. Brown]

Do you really think Verizon will change their pricing structure (and increase data costs) to compensate? I would hope they'd simply offer data sharing under the current pricing.

Honestly? I think they probably will. Right now they have a great system set up for themselves: if you want a smartphone, which most people do, it'll cost you $30 a month no matter how you use it. Thus, they're pretty much going to want to avoid exactly that scenario of one family being able to split their data without boosting the price. My suspicion is that they'll come up with some kind of system where data sharing is slightly cheaper than individual data lines for each device, but not so much cheaper as to undermine their bottom line.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if they just kept their current pricing structure and added the ability to share it between devices. But I doubt they would want to risk, say, a family of four all getting smartphones on a single $30, 2 GB per month plan. That would be manageable for most people if you didn't do a lot of streaming, and it would be a quarter of what you'd pay for the same service before.

My suspicion is that they'll do something like a base $45 "family data" plan, then $15 per month for each additional device. You'd then be paying $90 a month for data with that family with four smartphones; less than the $120 you'd pay under current rules, but still a very healthy chunk of change in Verizon's pocket.

I could be wrong, but it usually pays not to underestimate the avarice of the carriers.

[Varjak]

I think Jig gets it right for the most part.

First, remember that Verizon has had a low-key promotion doubling data to 4GB for the 'base' plan off and on for the last year or so. That's better than anyone really, other than Sprint's unlimited plan.

Second, I think they will probably use the opportunity of the family plan intro to offer a subtle price break. Perhaps it will only be a 'come on' promotion to encourage participation. Verizon isn't stupid. They know that often offering much more for the same price or even a bit more can significantly improve participation. It's just a matter of finding the sweet spot. Conversely, pricing it just a bit too high, can have drastic repercussions (see Netflix).

Tethering fees are one of the most egregious things that need to be eliminated. If a carrier is throttling or only offering fixed buckets of data, there is NO REASON to charge extra for using that data on another, tethered device.

ATT would also boost their brand if they offered 'rollover data' as part of their brand as they do with voice minutes, perhaps with a cap on how much you can accrue.