Tiered data is something we've been hearing about for a while now, so it comes as no surprise to hear that John Killian, CFO of Verizon has been reported as saying that VZW will likely be headed in that direction in the future. Killian told BusinessWeek that "We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate." And again, hearing someone from Verizon say this isn't anything new considering Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said the same thing to investors back in late May. The reason for the move to tiered data, said Killian, is the fact that more and more consumers are beginning to adopt smartphones, thereby increasing the data strain on the network. Presumably, VZW is looking to move to a tiered data structure in order to get a better grip on that strain.
AT&T surprised us in the last weeks by announcing their new tiered data plans, effective shortly after the announcement. However, it doesn't appear that Verizon's tiered data will take effect quite as soon. We've heard mention of tiered data coming into play closer to the time that Verizon's LTE network begins to better span the country - which will begin later this year and into 2011. But hey, I certainly wasn't expecting AT&T to be the first to bring tiered pricing to the US. There are certainly ups and downs to the tiered structure, and as I've said in the past, I think tiered data can be beneficial to people who otherwise wouldn't adopt smartphones. There is one thing I'd like to ask of Verizon: whatever you do, please don't do away with unlimited! If you're with me (or if you're not) let Verizon know how you feel below!
Via CNET
