AT&T (NYSE:T - News) on Wednesday shook up pricing for smart phone and tablet PC users, ending unlimited data plans for new customers that buy Apple's (NMS:AAPL) iPad and iPhone.
AT&T also lowered rates for subscribers that consume less Internet content, possibly spurring a new round of price-cutting.
The announcement comes as Apple is expected to unveil its newest iPhone on Monday, at the start of its annual developer's conference.
The new iPhone reportedly will have "tethering" capability, meaning it can be used as a wireless modem to connect to laptop computers or other devices.
AT&T's move comes roughly six months after the telecom carrier ignited a consumer backlash by suggesting that it was mulling ways to curb network usage by data-hungry subscribers.
Now, AT&T is the first carrier to press ahead "with what is likely to be a rapid industrywide transition to tiered pricing for wireless data," said Craig Moffett, an analyst at Bernstein Research.
The pricing change applies only to smart phones and the iPad, not laptops with wireless broadband. Verizon Wireless, co-owned by Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - News) and U.K.-based Vodafone (NMS:VOD), has signaled that it plans to shift to a tiered, meter-based billing system when it launches a fourth-generation, LTE data network, expected in the second half of this year.
AT&T and other phone companies have struggled to meet surging data demand, despite investing billions of dollars each year in their wireless networks. AT&T has been pummeled at times with complaints over poor network performance in markets such as New York and San Francisco.
The company, however, has claimed that about 2% of iPhone users are wireless hogs, downloading tons of data and clogging the wireless network.
Wednesday, AT&T said it will charge new customers that buy iPhones or Apple iPad tablet PCs $25 per month for 2 gigabytes of data, with higher prices if usage exceeds that amount. AT&T says existing iPhone and iPad customers can switch to the $25 monthly, 2 GB plan as well. AT&T has charged $30 a month for unlimited data since June 29, 2007, when Apple rolled out its first iPhone.
AT&T says the great majority of iPhone subscribers use less than 2 GB, but mobile users are accessing more video and other high-bandwidth content, so switching plans could be a gamble for users. And it's likely the unlimited data plan attracted many buyers of the iPhone and especially the iPad, which many owners use to view video and other high-bandwidth content.
AT&T has been the exclusive U.S. provider of service for the iPhone and iPad, though Verizon Wireless has been in talks with Apple.
AT&T's shift to usage caps could ease Internet consumption, but it and other wireless carriers are expected to have to continue to spend heavily to improve their networks.
Some analysts say AT&T's move should usher in a more profitable business model for carriers as smart phone usage proliferates. Smart phones, including BlackBerrys made by Research In Motion (NMS:RIMM) and handsets based on Google's (NMS:GOOG) Android operating system, accounted for 34% of new handset sales in the first quarter, says market tracker NPD.
Shares in AT&T, down about 12% in 2010, rose 1.85% on Wednesday. Shares in Verizon Communications and Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S - News) also rose.
AT&T's strategy may increase price competition at the low-end, some analysts say.
Besides the $25 2 GB plan, AT&T says it will charge new customers $15 per month for 200 megabytes of data. If subscribers go over that limit, AT&T will tack on $15 for another 200 megabytes.
T-Mobile USA, owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom (NYSE:DT - News), recently rolled out new rate plans that charge $25 for 200 megabytes of data. Verizon offers a $10 monthly data plan for 25 megabytes.
"Other operators will follow with cuts to their data plans and (we) would not rule out a family plan data rate being offered," wrote Walter Piecyk, an analyst at BTIG Research, in his company blog.
On the high end, analyst Moffett says he does not expect Clearwire (NMS:CLWR), which operates a high-speed data network, to lower its prices.
AT&T says 98% of its smart phone customers consume less than 2 GB of data monthly, while 65% use less than 200 MB.
AT&T and most wireless carriers limit data usage for laptops to 5 GB per month. Buyers of the new iPhone will have to pay $20 extra a month for tethering to laptops.
While most wireless users today gobble up less than 2 GB of data a month, new services could shift usage patterns. Google is poised to deliver more Web video to Android phones. Sprint is touting video calls with its new HTC EVO phone, the first 4G phone on the U.S. market.
AT&T aims to get in front of exploding data traffic, says Tim Horan, an Oppenheimer analyst.
"We are not sure what drove the specific timing other than probably very high-end iPad and iPhone users continuing to pressure (AT&T's) network ...," Horan wrote in a research note.
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu