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Kuittinen
Forbes Magazine has been pondering Verizon’s radical shift to eliminate buckets of voice minutes and text messages, while increasing prices on wireless data just when mobile broadband is expected to become the new profit center for wireless phone companies. It appears Verizon is well on the way to milking the data cash cow.
Tero Kuittinen notes Verizon Wireless has been on a rate increase binge, primarily by eliminating cheaper plans in favor of those with bigger buckets for voice and text services customers simply don’t need. What used to cost $50 a month two years ago for a respectable minute plan jumped to $70 for a smartphone with data, and now will increase another $20 to $90 a month, and give customers a smaller data allowance.
Verizon Wireless argues customers will get more bang for their buck, and for heavy voice, mobile hotspot and texting users, they may be right. But for the average customer who watches their voice minutes and keeps texting to a reasonable level, prices are going nowhere but up, whether you want unlimited voice and texting or not.
Q. Will Verizon Wireless herd all of its customers to unlimited voice calling at a higher price? A. Yes!
Why is Verizon taking the risk of alienating consumers by forcing them into a major price hike?
- This is a clever move to try to cut Skype and WhatsApp down before they erode Verizon’s voice and texting revenue any further. Consumers can still use Skype and WhatsApp – but there is less incentive, because you are forced to pay for unlimited voice and text anyway.
- The campaigns to lure consumers into buying tablet data plans have not worked. Most people opt for WiFi only tablets. The new Verizon plan basically forces all consumers to pay a higher monthly bill – and then offers them an option to add a tablet data connection for just $10 extra. Adding mobile data to your tablet becomes much more alluring. You’re paying $90 base price anyway – what’s another ten bucks?
- Verizon believes Sprint and T-Mobile are now so weak they offer no effective competition. Most consumers are so suspicious about their coverage area and/or device ranges that Verizon does not need to worry about defections too much.
America has yet to hear from the other half of the Attizon duopoly, Kuittinen warns, and AT&T is usually cited as the less-consumer-friendly choice in wireless. Kuittinen believes neither company particularly cares about what consumers ultimately think about the new plans, because their only alternatives have more limited coverage, don’t always have access to the hottest new devices, and have 4G networks that don’t keep up particularly well with their larger rivals. (Clearwire on Sprint, anyone?)
[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WDTN Dayton Verizon Tricked Me 6-13-12.f4v[/flv]
WDTN’s morning news show weighed in on Verizon Wireless’ new “Share Everything” plan. Verizon got scathing reviews from the Dayton, Ohio news show, with one host concluding Verizon Wireless has tricked her with an unlimited data plan it now wants to take away. (2 minutes)
Coworker pointed out ting.com, uses Sprint network, today as an alternative to the new Verizon plans. I think I might give it a try. So now, instead of going from $60 to $100 on Verizon with next phone upgrade, I can go the other direction from $60 to $30 instead.
Who would believe ‘Share Everything’ would become a swear phrase.