AT&T CEO Believes 5G Phone Plans Could Be Tiered and Priced on Data Speed

[nsayer]

I'd be more surprised if an AT&T exec didn't express a desire to milk his customer base any and every way possible.

 

[spinedoc77]

Hopefully 4g becomes the "budget" option and my bill goes down. 5g seems utterly useless, I don't get what I need that kind of connection on my smartphone for, especially with the US data plans which have no truly unlimited option. You are going to suck your data up in a millisecond.

 

[EdT]

Just because something is considered a utility doesn’t mean it is immune from customers putting up with pricing shenanigans. Google Alliant Energy rate increase for some fun reading. At least in the wireless industry there is SOME competition and choice for consumers.

There is not very much competition in low population density areas. If you live in Nebraska, and outside of the Omaha/Lincoln/TriCities area, you are probably on Verizon, because none of the other services have a good signal in most of the state. I don't know what company serves eastern Wisconsin but in that area it ISN'T Verizon. Madison is ok but 10 15 miles west of that and even phone connections are iffy, and data can be 1G at best in many areas.

It's almost like there is this unofficial agreement amongst the big providers about who get what slice in low density parts of the country.

 

[Joe h]

They’re video business lost another half million last quarter, so they’ll have to make up the revenue loss nickel and diming the wireless customer.

 

[ghanwani]

This is the reason why AT&T must not be allowed to buy T-Mobile.

Once T-Mobile offers it for cheap, AT&T will have no choice but to quit gouging their customers.

Already the US is among the countries with the most expensive cell phone service.

 

[Analog Kid]

ATT is greedy no doubt. But who are you to complain at their strategy and decide what is and what isn’t a utility? Did you take the business risk to build out their towers and network infrastructure? The idea that government, stealing money and resources from people and allocating them to disciplines and industries in which they have no expertise whatsoever is the definition of misguided. Private markets are inherently always superior. Always. Government monopolies cannot be efficient.

Extremist view is extreme.

 

[EdT]

They can keep it. 4G LTE is more than enough for cell phone usage.

And 640k is enough memory for any computer.

 

[s15119]

ATT is greedy no doubt. But who are you to complain at their strategy and decide what is and what isn’t a utility? Did you take the business risk to build out their towers and network infrastructure? The idea that government, stealing money and resources from people and allocating them to disciplines and industries in which they have no expertise whatsoever is the definition of misguided. Private markets are inherently always superior. Always. Government monopolies cannot be efficient.

Please stay off our roads. Clearly you already steer clear of libraries and schools. Your statement is demonstrably false.

 

[cuhulin]

Can't wait for 6G when they start tiering by location, type of smartphone, etc, etc...

You don't need to wait until 6G. This is what Stephenson is proposing for 5G.
[doublepost=1556151803][/doublepost]

It's almost like there is this unofficial agreement amongst the big providers about who get what slice in low density parts of the country.

Almost like?

 

[iapplelove]

ewww I will stick with my LTE

 

[ikramerica]

I prefer speed tiers than data tiers. Im fine with LTE speeds and so is my wife.

 

[xalea]

It’s sucks when What should be considered a utility is being treated with “some people will be willing to pay more for the full experience”.

This quote from att shows exactly why this idea that private companies will provide the best experience to the largest number of users for something which is effectively necessary to function in society is incredibly misguided.

So we should all have government 5G Internet? Because that would work just great, right?

The free market will work in this instance just like it always does if the government will stay out of it. Let people take their money to different and better companies. Soviet American 5G access isn’t the way to go.

 

[Dario69]

ATT is greedy no doubt. But who are you to complain at their strategy and decide what is and what isn’t a utility? Did you take the business risk to build out their towers and network infrastructure? The idea that government, stealing money and resources from people and allocating them to disciplines and industries in which they have no expertise whatsoever is the definition of misguided. Private markets are inherently always superior. Always. Government monopolies cannot be efficient.

What?!?

Please provide examples of the disciplines and industries you are referencing?

Thanks!!

 

[cuhulin]

ATT is greedy no doubt. But who are you to complain at their strategy and decide what is and what isn’t a utility? Did you take the business risk to build out their towers and network infrastructure? The idea that government, stealing money and resources from people and allocating them to disciplines and industries in which they have no expertise whatsoever is the definition of misguided. Private markets are inherently always superior. Always. Government monopolies cannot be efficient.

This comment is so very wrong.

AT&T and Verizon have a near-monopoly because the government allocates the air resources (the bandwidth and frequencies) that AT&T uses. The companies are in no way in a private market in acquiring their resources from the public.

The government does not "steal" money. Rather, the government charges taxes as the consideration for the right to live in the United States. Taxes are the buy-in.

Our entire electrical infrastructure is an example of regulated utilities, where the service is regulated as the consideration for the right to run electical wire with government assistance, dig up streets, put power poles on otherwise private property, and so on.

It's a nice soundbite to claim that private markets are inherently superior, but there is no evidence for that at all.

 

[cppguy]

5G is a solution in search of a problem...

5G is not as much for the consumers, but for the industry. Machines talking to each other real-time. Such as doing surgery remotely, robots communicating within a building, self-driving cars talking to each other and the traffic lights, and so on. You're not going to notice much difference in speed, except in the latency.

 

[npmacuser5]

Metered service, just like electricity, water, sewer, use what you need in any given month. This all you can eat buffet a very expensive billing in the long run. Like all inclusive hotels, most get ripped off by a few who benefit. Same with internet, cable tv, music services, all you can eat a majority rip off.

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Isn't this part of Ajit Pai's master plan of screwing the consumers and enabling the giants?

 

[ghostface147]

So while everyone transitions to 5g, would I be able to flip a switch and stay on 4G LTE? I can already force my X down to 3G if I have to. I don’t though.

 

[EdT]

So we should all have government 5G Internet? Because that would work just great, right?

The free market will work in this instance just like it always does if the government will stay out of it. Let people take their money to different and better companies. Soviet American 5G access isn’t the way to go.

No it won't. In large physical (not population) areas of the country there isn't enough profit to make it worth it, at least as far as the cell providers are concerned. Same thing happened before with electricity in the 1920's and 30's. Eventually government programs were set up to provide the money for small companies and rural co-ops to provide electricity to a lot of rural areas. Ever hear of the TVA? It was set up in the Tennessee Valley by George Norris. George Norris was a Senator from Nebraska, not Tennessee or any of the nearby states that directly benefited from this program:

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter on May 18, 1933, to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression. The enterprise was a result of the efforts of Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska. TVA was envisioned not only as a provider, but also as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to more quickly modernize the region's economy and society.

TVA's service area covers most of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small slices of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. It was the first large regional planning agency of the federal government and remains the largest. Under the leadership of David Lilienthal ("Mr. TVA"), the TVA became a model for America's efforts to help modernize agrarian societies in the developing world.[1]

WikiLink to Article

 

[Mr. Dee]

Apple is smart for still selling 4G LTE iPhone in 2019 and I believe they will do so in 2020 in addition to a 5G iPhone. While every other smartphone will bet all on 5G, customers are gonna choose the technology that works for their budget and go with a cheaper 4G LTE iPhone, which Apple grabs the 5G markets with the 2020 iPhone. 2021 is really looking like my upgrade year from my iPhone X. So, I will wait until the dust settles.

 

[swissbob]

Here in europe not having a 5G phone, might become a big problem.

I know a few guys who would only Upgrade, if apple would bring a 5G phone on the market.

 

[Quu]

I don't mind this strategy, at-least it means there will be a 1Gb/s tier and that will give ground service ISP's a reason to finally give us gigabit speeds to compete.

 

[imageWIS]

I believe that I will be angry in the future.

I'm f - ing furious at at&t now...!

 

[kwikdeth]

if ATT were in charge of the roads and highways we'd all still be driving on two-lane macadam "highways"

 

[Braderunner]

Of course he does...