Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
I try to not feel sorry for huge, multi-national conglomerates. This is due mostly to the fact that they always seem to forget my birthday, unless they want me to buy something.
But, the overreaction this week to AT&T Mobility adjusting the prices of their mobile data plans made me nearly shed a tear for the big guy.
To recap, AT&T Mobility has replaced its previous data plans that included 250 megabytes for $15 and 2 gigabytes for $25 with new plans that provide 300 MB for $20 and 3 GB for $30. Not what I would call an earth shattering adjustment, but to read some of the comments made in traditional media outlets and on some blogs, you would think that AT&T Mobility was looking to drown puppies.
Now, I am always against companies raising prices, but if along with that price increase I also get something more, well then I will usually leave the pitchfork in its case. In this instance it would seem that while AT&T Mobility has indeed raised prices (bad), it’s also providing more for that price (good).
And in fact, when compared with its doppelganger behind the red curtain – Verizon Wireless – AT&T Mobility’s higher-tiered pricing is, dare I say, a bargain.
Sure, AT&T Mobility has raised the entry-point for customers looking to stick their toe into the smartphone arena, but that is only for new customers or those upgrading to a smartphone, and if they don’t like the pricing there are plenty of other options in the market. In the past this might have been a bigger issue as Apple’s iPhone was limited to AT&T Mobility’s network, but with other carriers now carrying the iconic device, and more expected in the future, I don’t really see the impetus for all this consternation.
If anything, AT&T Mobility is doing the market a favor by providing more fodder for its rivals in attempting to separate themselves from their peers. Sprint Nextel seems to be gaining traction with its unlimited data story line, while its smaller rivals like T-Mobile USA, Leap and MetroPCS can now claim they are an even greater value.
I think a bigger dilemma for all carriers is on the horizon when they start offering a broader footprint for their LTE networks.
To this point, carriers have basically mimicked their 3G pricing plans for their LTE services, something that sort of makes sense as people shouldn’t have to discern the differences between the two technologies and most LTE networks are not pervasive enough yet to allow customers to be solely on one network for any extended period of time.
But, once those LTE networks push past say the 250 million pops coverage point and if/when Apple unveils an LTE-equipped iPhones, well then all bets are off. Current data buckets are going to be chewed through in a matter of days, with customers either forced to deal with reduced network speeds or overage charges if current models remain.
If carriers think the kerfuffle caused by adjusting data buckets was over the top, just wait for the blog-o-explosion they see when customers start having the “4G” services they thought they were paying for throttled back to 3G or 2G speeds, or better yet the YouTube videos posted by those with hundreds of dollars in overage charges.
Now that will be an occasion to break out the pitchforks and torches.
OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:
— It’s official. The wireless industry is now all about mobile Internet access. What made something that all of us sort of knew “official” you may ask? Because Walmart said so.
Walmart this week added “unlimited” data services to its Family Mobile offering, which while still a small segment of the overall prepaid market, is one that has taken a leadership position on pricing. This in turn has forced others to react. (I use the “unlimited” term here as while customers are allowed to access as much mobile data service as they can stand, those network speeds are subject to caps.)
Now, I know “traditional” wireless outlets have been touting the boom of mobile Internet services for more than a year, but it’s not until the masses show up does it really count. And nothing says the “masses” like Walmart.
–I know I have recently questioned some of the moves made by wanna-be LTE provider LightSquared that has struggled to gain control of spectrum it rightfully owns from a GPS community that has for years overstepped its boundaries. LightSquared initially tried to play nice with the GPS market, but seeing how well that did not work, switched to a more adversarial role.
This tension has heated up as numerous tests conducted by “independent” firms have shown continued interference between LightSquared’s potential network and some GPS devices to at least some degree. That degree is open for debate as both sides seem to think the other is jobbing the game. (It should also be noted that the latest debate is around testing conducted by the Air Force Space Command. I have no idea how valid those tests are, but with a name that includes “Space Command” I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt.)
While I do feel a bit of sympathy for LightSquared and can see where they do appear to be getting screwed in this process, I think the company’s desperation to get this issue straightened out before the money tap runs dry is making them a bit tense.
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