Verizon customers who currently have a $30 per month unlimited data plan will not be able to keep that plan after they migrate to 4G LTE. Verizon plans to offer a data share plan starting mid-summer and 4G LTE customers will have to move to that plan. No pricing details have yet been released regarding the new data share plan.
Verizon Communications CFO, Fran Shammo, spoke at J.P. Morgan’s 40th Annual Global Technology, Media and Telecom conference held this week in Boston. FierceWireless reported that Shammo made the statement that “everyone will be on data share.”
Shammo also stated that he felt that the new plan would make it easier for families and small businesses to use multiple devices on their network. Currently, additional devices require their own data plan, which he believes had been constraining the market.
“A lot of our 3G base is on unlimited. When they migrate off 3G they will have to go to data share. That is beneficial to us,” said Shammo. This will allow Verizon to eventually sunset its unlimited data plans.
The shift to a data share plan will also change one way the industry tracks its success. “Revenue per user” will be replaced with “revenue per account” as a key metric.
It was also noted that by the end of 2013, Verizon’s LTE footprint will be the same as or bigger than its current 3G coverage.
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