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Verizon Customers May Shed Tears if Tier-type Plan is Accepted

Paolo Cloma — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:33:45 +0000

Verizon’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) network was recently launched to the cities of Seattle and Boston. LTE, Verizon’s anticipated 4G network, has gained significant ground in terms of product availability and will continue to expand until it is fully operational in 2013, as Verizon promises. LTE is set to debut in 25 other cities, and will be made available to 100 million people by that year. What Verizon must concentrate on is their price management for the product. LTE is a faster network than its former 3G, it also has the capabilities to download and upload large amounts of data in a matter of minutes. LTE’s 4th generation network is, as its name implies, a more evolved network and therefore calls for a more evolved form of pricing. As Verizon calls for change, it seems evident that they’re turning towards a tiered-type data-pricing plan similar to their competitor, AT&T.

For Verizon, this change in pricing would be able to cut the cost of the new network significantly. Using a tiered-type pricing plan, Verizon would be able to charge users more for their data accessing needs rather than charging a base price for an unlimited plan as they do with the Blackberry phones. This change may be significant financially for the company as it’s using billions of dollars to produce the network. However, no decisions have been made or finalized, as of now.

The change to a tier-type pricing plan may lead to disadvantages and advantages depending on what type of data user a person is. It will undoubtedly save money for clients such as stay-at-home moms who have smart phones, just for the luxury of it. However, for the network users who use a large amount of data on a daily basis, their costs may raise as they use more and more data. This price differential per customer may lead to consumer disagreement and cause the company problems. Though nothing has been finalized, Verizon has taken all customer and company concerns into consideration and is currently working on a new pricing plan.

Huawei Showcases Latest LTE Modem

Michael Licata — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:29:52 +0000

Huawei unveiled the world’s first triple-mode LTE modem. The E398 works with all three standards, LTE, UMTS and GSM.

The modem, supporting multiple mainstream frequencies, allows users to browse the internet using high speeds with LTE technology and can switch to the 3G technologies GSM and UMTS.

“The E398 is designed to address increasing requirements for operators to introduce commercial LTE services with flexible evolution roadmaps,” says James Chen, Managing Director of Huawei Nordic Office. “With the E398, the end-users don’t have to wait for the completion of the LTE network before they can enjoy 10 times higher speeds, as well as a continuous surfing experience. With rapid growth in the LTE market, Huawei will see the E398 modem as a start for future cooperation with partners all over the world.”

The device will be available in Sweden, where the world’s first LTE/GSM shared network is operated by Net4Mobility. Huawei was selected for the LTE roll out in Sweden where they provided backhaul and other solutions.

Japan Oks First LTE Modem

Michael Licata — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:15:36 +0000

LG just announced that the Japanese government has certified its first LTE modem. This will be the first step in the country’s launch of an LTE network.

The modem builds on current 3G cell technology that improves data transmission up to 100Mbps. NTT DoCoMo plans to use the modem to test LTE, hoping to launch data services in Japan by the end of 2010.

LG supplies a great deal of 3G data modems to carriers and NTT DoCoMo is working with other equipment makers on data terminals, handsets and other devices. LG plans to demonstrate its first offerings at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later in February.

Photo Courtesy of MillZero via Flickr