By ROGER CHENG - SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
Verizon Communications Inc.'s chief said he expects to soon start charging wireless customers based on their Internet data usage and introduce new plans with limits.
Verizon's move would follow rival carrier AT&T Inc.'s decision in June to stop selling an unlimited data plan to new customers and begin selling two service plans with monthly caps.
Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said Verizon Wireless's new data plans, which will likely roll out over the next four to six months, would be different from AT&T's plans, but he didn't provide details.
"We're not sure we agree yet with how they valued the data," he said at an investor conference Thursday.
Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. carrier with 92.1 million customers, currently charges $29.99 a month for unlimited data. A Verizon spokesman declined to provide more detail on the new plans.
AT&T offers two options for data service. It has a basic plan for $15 a month with a limit of 200 megabytes of data, and a $25 plan with a cap of 2 gigabytes of data. Customers who go over their limits are charged an additional fee.
The wireless industry has struggled to balance the increasing demand for data capacity with unlimited plans that limit how much revenue carriers can generate from their subscribers. The dynamic has pressured the carriers, who need to pour billions of dollars into their networks to ensure that the traffic flows smoothly.
Mr. Seidenberg said the introduction of new products and services—likely in conjunction with the launch of fourth-generation wireless services—would allow Verizon Wireless to introduce a tiered pricing structure.
Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone Group PLC, is also hoping its move to 4G will spur suppliers—including Apple Inc. —to build products for the carrier, Mr. Seidenberg said.
"At some point, Apple will get with the program," he said Thursday. He declined to comment on speculation that Verizon Wireless would get the iPhone some time next year. "I can't speak for Apple," he said.
Verizon Wireless has long sought the iPhone, which has an exclusive deal with AT&T. The lack of the iPhone has forced Verizon Wireless to develop a stronger lineup of smartphones on its own, and Mr. Seidenberg expects the move to a 4G technology called Long-Term Evolution will attract more suppliers and mobile devices.
"We don't feel like we have an iPhone deficit," Mr. Seidenberg said. "We would love to carry it, but we have to earn it."
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