Unlimited Data Plans Will End Soon, Verizon CEO Says
The moment feared by Verizon smartphone customers has arrived. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg has confirmed that the company will soon move to tiered data pricing plans instead of the current unlimited option.
The same move at AT&T in June caused much customer backlash. Verizon customers will likely feel the same way because it means they have to watch their data consumption much more carefully and get less value for their money.
Seidenberg did say Verizon's data pricing would not be the same as AT&T's, but he didn't say if it would be more or less expensive.
"We're not sure we agree yet with how they valued the data," Seidenberg said at an investor conference Thursday.
The change would happen sometime in the next four to six months, he said. It would be facilitated by new 4G wireless devices , but he did not give specifics on which devices those were.
Right now, unlimited data on Verizon costs $30 per month, while AT&T has capped data usage at $25 for 2GB (as well as a lower tier with 200MB for $15). It's possible that Verizon won't just have different pricing but a different number of tiers as well, in order to cater to different data needs. The AT&T plans have been criticized for having only a high option and an extremely low option.
