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The most interesting latest news on the topic: AT&T |
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AT&T and Verizon are both trying to boost revenue with the same tactic: shared data plans. But the strategy comes with hidden consequences.
Right now, family plans allow members to share voice minutes, but carriers allot separate data plans for individual devices. That will change soon on these two major U.S. carriers, which will give plans with multiple devices one pool of data to use later this summer. The new plans are designed to make data more affordable to consumers, and could likely relieve heavy traffic congestion and spectrum strain for carriers as well. Roger's, one of Canada's major carriers, already adopted the approach and saw a boost in data usage, so AT&T and Verizon likely expect the same thing happening for them. But the strategy carries two distinct risks. 1. Data Sharing Could Lose Money The plans might not bump up costs for consumers, which means the carriers won't increase profits. Frugal families may end up paying less for the combined plan than they did with multiple data packages if they choose a small group package and don't go over the limit. If that happens, AT&T and Verizon will not benefit from the change. With AT&T and Verizon effectively killing off unlimited data, people are likely to keep an eye on their data usage to prevent caps, and if they notice the family plan could increase their fees, they may overhaul their data usage to save money. Data consumption is rising in general among consumers eager to stream movies and perform more tasks on tablets and smartphones, but awareness of data usage could also grow, curtailing revenue growth in this avenue. 2. Data Sharing May Drive Customers Away AT&T and Verizon are trying to sell this change as something consumers want, but the only way it will benefit the carriers is if it charges customers more money to generate revenue, which may breed contempt and cause defections. Both major U.S. carriers are taking a bet and assuming the payoff is worth the risk of alienating customers, but it may give smaller companies like Sprint room to edge into the competition. Sprint is still offering unlimited packages as a way to differentiate itself, but A&T and Verizon both throttle or slow data when users reach certain limits, so if the family plan strategy backfires on the two major carriers it could help Sprint gain more traction in the market. For its part, T-Mobile has disavowed family data plans. T-Mobile believes consumers don't want a "one size fits all" approach to shared family data plans, according to T-Mobile's senior vice president of marketing Andrew Sherrard. T-Mobile is instead boosting a new prepaid mobile broadband data plans for tablets, which allows customers pay in daily, weekly or monthly installments for data, starting at 300-megabytes per week for $15 and going up to 5-gigabytes per month for $50. All carriers are banking on rising data usage to fuel revenue streams in the future, but the dilemma is how best to offer the service to consumers. AT&T and Verizon are betting on shared family data plans as one way to entice more consumers to adding data to their plans, but Sprint and T-Mobile offer other approaches that could help them gain a footing with consumers turned off by the "one bucket for everyone" plans. Risky business, indeed. |
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Sprint (NYSE:S) is seeing its fortunes turn around on the iPhone, but the company's future success lies in its ability to cash in on data services, which is at odds with its unlimited plans. |
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AT&T built a solid base selling the iPhone, but Verizon gains the advantage with an LTE version, forcing AT&T to shift allegiances to Android or Windows to sustain its success. |
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AT&T built a solid base selling the iPhone, but Verizon gains the advantage with an LTE version, forcing AT&T to shift allegiances to Android or Windows to sustain its success. |
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The head bone's connected to the... iPhone? AT&T Labs unveiled technology to unlock doors with the touch of the knob -- sending an acoustic signal through the phone, and into the skeleton, to tell the door to open. |
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Nearly 30 million Americans, or one in six mobile users, experienced "bill shock," a sudden and unexpected jump in monthly cellular bills, and the Federal Communications Commission is battling to combat the problem. |
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 Tags: AT&T, Companies, Cover Story, Featured, Lifestyle, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Reports, RootMetrics, PCWorld
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18 April 2012 |
AT&T and Verizon are battling it out for claim to the fastest 4G service, and consumers are left scratching their heads. Which one is faster? The answer is, it doesn't matter. |
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Apple and its rivals appear to be starting a new war over SIM cards, while Chrome won the battle of the browsers, if only briefly, over Internet Explorer. Meanwhile, an iPhone owner learned that if he wants to get results, it's best to start at the top, and HP is merging its printer and PC divisions. Plus, if you're looking for a good scare, try Netflix, which is unveiling a 13-part original horror series early next year. Apple, Rivals Heading Toward SIM Card WarThe next-generation nano-SIM card is spurring another war between Apple and its rivals in Europe. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute is set to vote on Apple's plans for the new card. The problem is Apple's version requires a special drawer for the card, which is already designed into the iPad and iPhone. However, the competing design led by Nokia and backed by Motorola and RIM is described as having "significant technical advantages." The SIM design would be licensed to any organization, but some are worried the nano-SIM patents could fall under Apple's controls, further exacerbating the patent wars between tech companies.
Man Takes iPhone/AT&T Complaint To Tim Cook HimselfA frustrated iPhone owner is able to use his device in Canada, after he wrote a letter Apple CEO Tim Cook to complain after AT&T told the man to "just jailbreak" the device. The owner, while moving to Canada, learned his AT&T phone wouldn't work there, but he still wanted to use it. He called AT&T, who told him to call Apple, who told him to call AT&T. After the last call, when an AT&T employee told him to jailbreak the phone, the man had enough and complained in a letter written directly to Tim Cook. He said his entire family is immersed in the Apple brand and "Apple has touched every aspect of our lives and made it richer." His plea worked. Not long after he sent his letter, AT&T called the man to tell him Apple requested they fix the iPhone issue. After the man confirmed his ID number and plugged the phone into one of his four Mac computers, his iPhone is now unlocked.
HP to Merge Printer, PC BusinessesHewlett-Packard is merging its printer and PC divisions to save costs and boost growth. PC chief Todd Bradley will head the new unit. CEO Meg Whitman said the reorganization will increase effectiveness and efficiency. The company is also planning to unify other functions such as marketing across the business to promote a stronger brand and improve efficiency.
Netflix Adding Horror Series to Its LineupNetflix will add its exclusive horror series "Hemlock Grove" early next year, as the video streaming and DVD rental service continues to add original programming. "Hemlock Grove," an adaption of Brian McGreevy's novel by the same name, will star Famke Janssen and Bill Skarsgard in what Netflix says is a "gripping tale of murder, mystery and monsters set in a ravaged Pennsylvania steel town." The 13-part series' exact release date has not been announced.
Chrome Goes to the Top, BrieflyGoogle's Chrome web browser overtook Internet Explorer to become market leader globally for the first time for one weekend day, web analytics firm StatCounter said. "While it is only one day, this is a milestone," said Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter's chief executive. "At weekends, when people are free to choose what browser to use, many of them are selecting Chrome in preference to IE." On March 18, Chrome was used for 32.7 percent of all browsing, while Explorer had 32.5 percent share. However, when the weekend ended, people went back to using Internet Explorer, possibly because they were back at work and IE is used in more offices. Explorer remains on top worldwide, but is slipping slightly as other browsers like Chrome, Safari and Firefox become more widely used. |
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Apple and its rivals appear to be starting a new war over SIM cards, while Chrome won the battle of the browsers, if only briefly, over Internet Explorer. Meanwhile, an iPhone owner learned that if he wants to get results, it's best to start at the top, and HP is merging its printer and PC divisions. Plus, if you're looking for a good scare, try Netflix, which is unveiling a 13-part original horror series early next year. Apple, Rivals Heading Toward SIM Card WarThe next-generation nano-SIM card is spurring another war between Apple and its rivals in Europe. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute is set to vote on Apple's plans for the new card. The problem is Apple's version requires a special drawer for the card, which is already designed into the iPad and iPhone. However, the competing design led by Nokia and backed by Motorola and RIM is described as having "significant technical advantages." The SIM design would be licensed to any organization, but some are worried the nano-SIM patents could fall under Apple's controls, further exacerbating the patent wars between tech companies.
Man Takes iPhone/AT&T Complaint To Tim Cook HimselfA frustrated iPhone owner is able to use his device in Canada, after he wrote a letter Apple CEO Tim Cook to complain after AT&T told the man to "just jailbreak" the device. The owner, while moving to Canada, learned his AT&T phone wouldn't work there, but he still wanted to use it. He called AT&T, who told him to call Apple, who told him to call AT&T. After the last call, when an AT&T employee told him to jailbreak the phone, the man had enough and complained in a letter written directly to Tim Cook. He said his entire family is immersed in the Apple brand and "Apple has touched every aspect of our lives and made it richer." His plea worked. Not long after he sent his letter, AT&T called the man to tell him Apple requested they fix the iPhone issue. After the man confirmed his ID number and plugged the phone into one of his four Mac computers, his iPhone is now unlocked.
HP to Merge Printer, PC BusinessesHewlett-Packard is merging its printer and PC divisions to save costs and boost growth. PC chief Todd Bradley will head the new unit. CEO Meg Whitman said the reorganization will increase effectiveness and efficiency. The company is also planning to unify other functions such as marketing across the business to promote a stronger brand and improve efficiency.
Netflix Adding Horror Series to Its LineupNetflix will add its exclusive horror series "Hemlock Grove" early next year, as the video streaming and DVD rental service continues to add original programming. "Hemlock Grove," an adaption of Brian McGreevy's novel by the same name, will star Famke Janssen and Bill Skarsgard in what Netflix says is a "gripping tale of murder, mystery and monsters set in a ravaged Pennsylvania steel town." The 13-part series' exact release date has not been announced.
Chrome Goes to the Top, BrieflyGoogle's Chrome web browser overtook Internet Explorer to become market leader globally for the first time for one weekend day, web analytics firm StatCounter said. "While it is only one day, this is a milestone," said Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter's chief executive. "At weekends, when people are free to choose what browser to use, many of them are selecting Chrome in preference to IE." On March 18, Chrome was used for 32.7 percent of all browsing, while Explorer had 32.5 percent share. However, when the weekend ended, people went back to using Internet Explorer, possibly because they were back at work and IE is used in more offices. Explorer remains on top worldwide, but is slipping slightly as other browsers like Chrome, Safari and Firefox become more widely used. |
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Smartphone users are angry as carriers do away with unlimited data plans, but a new study shows many customers don't need to spend as much as they do on data. When wireless carriers like AT&T and Verizon put an end to unlimited data plans, the companies allowed customers who had already signed up for them to keep them. As a result, there are millions of subscribers paying $30 a month to keep their unlimited data and millions of others who are jealous. According to Consumer Reports, nearly half the customers holding on to unlimited data plans at AT&T would see no ill effects if they switch to the carrier's $20 a month plan, which allows just 300-megabytes of data usage a month. In addition, just one percent of the other half of customers actually take full advantage of their unlimited capabilities -- the rest use under 5-gigabytes of data, which is what AT&T allots for $30 under its new data plans. A small number of very vocal customers certainly had legitimate reason to be upset when carriers took unlimited data plans away. The numbers, however, show most users lost nothing as a result of tiered plans. This begs the question: Why are so many people so angry at wireless providers over data plans? The number-one reason for the dissatisfaction is because most customers still don't understand how data works. There are people out there who know every in-and-out of the jargon they receive when they go to their local Verizon or AT&T store, but your average person is too busy with day-to-day responsibilities of work, a family and putting food on the table to care what the difference between a megabyte and gigabyte is. Some customers don't even know what features on their phone need data, let alone how much they're using, and most don't have an easy way of monitoring their data usage. The word "unlimited" has been masking consumers' poor education about data use for years. Everybody understands the word "unlimited." Customers knew they could use their devices as much as they wanted and not have to worry about what their monthly bill was going to be each month. When carriers began to scrap the word unlimited from their vocabularies, it took away the peace of mind it brought to their subscribers. Suddenly, customers now fear they have lost their data cushion and are in danger of receiving a monthly bill they'll have to re-mortgage their home to pay. For 99 percent of users, this isn't the case, but it's not to the benefit of wireless providers to let their customers know that. As a result, millions are now overpaying for data just so they can keep the peace of mind the word unlimited originally gave them. |
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