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

[ibphd]

The next couple of years will see the rollout of 5G cellular phone networks from companies like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, and it sounds like 5G smartphone plans might not be priced in the same way as current 4G LTE plans.

During today's AT&T earnings call, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said (via The Verge) that he believes the pricing for 5G connectivity could resemble home broadband pricing with different prices for different speed tiers rather than one set price for the fastest connectivity available.

5G networks are still in the early days, so how pricing will ultimately work out remains to be seen. It's also not clear how variable pricing for tiered speeds would work given the fact that 5G connections speeds are going to vary depending on whether you're in a city or in a more rural area.

The fastest 5G speeds, available through mmWave technology, will be limited to urban areas. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg this week explained that millimeter wave high-frequency spectrum isn't suitable for widespread coverage, a sentiment shared by T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray, who wrote a blog post on the subject earlier this week.AT&T has launched its 5G network in a handful of markets across the United States, and other carriers, like Verizon, have also been starting their 5G network rollouts.

There are few smartphones that are able to take advantage of 5G networks at the current time, but additional 5G smartphones are expected later in 2019.

Rumors suggest Apple's first 5G iPhone will come out in 2020, when 5G networks are more mature and more widely available. Apple is planning to use chips from Qualcomm and perhaps Samsung now that Intel is out of the 5G smartphone modem chip business.

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

I have a grandfathered plan, which was raised by 5 bucks per month, again. I'm guessing that the offered plan will the lowest tier and will cost my right kidney, my first born child and my monthly paycheck.

 

[haruhiko]

Contrary to most of the posts here, I think this would actually be beneficial to many consumers who don’t want the latest and greatest (speeds.) I much prefer a model that has a pricing tier based on speed vs data usage. If they combine the two, then I dislike this plan.

The more interesting part of his statements are related to the timeline/ 2-3 years away. This means, in my opinion, that they don’t see 5G being mainstream for at least 2-3 years.

Att does a lot of dumb things (digital life) - And has more debt than I think any other company in the world. I hope they get this debt below 100 billion before 5G becomes prevalent so that They can afford to be more aggressive with pricing.

Contrary to your thinking, you will be offered much less data than you need at a much higher price than you would pay. /Thread

 

[calstanford]

at&t is one of the world‘s ********* run telcos. How‘s that 5GE going for them?

 

[ibphd]

The next couple of years will see the rollout of 5G cellular phone networks from companies like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, and it sounds like 5G smartphone plans might not be priced in the same way as current 4G LTE plans.

During today's AT&T earnings call, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said (via The Verge) that he believes the pricing for 5G connectivity could resemble home broadband pricing with different prices for different speed tiers rather than one set price for the fastest connectivity available.

5G networks are still in the early days, so how pricing will ultimately work out remains to be seen. It's also not clear how variable pricing for tiered speeds would work given the fact that 5G connections speeds are going to vary depending on whether you're in a city or in a more rural area.

The fastest 5G speeds, available through mmWave technology, will be limited to urban areas. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg this week explained that millimeter wave high-frequency spectrum isn't suitable for widespread coverage, a sentiment shared by T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray, who wrote a blog post on the subject earlier this week.AT&T has launched its 5G network in a handful of markets across the United States, and other carriers, like Verizon, have also been starting their 5G network rollouts.

There are few smartphones that are able to take advantage of 5G networks at the current time, but additional 5G smartphones are expected later in 2019.

Rumors suggest Apple's first 5G iPhone will come out in 2020, when 5G networks are more mature and more widely available. Apple is planning to use chips from Qualcomm and perhaps Samsung now that Intel is out of the 5G smartphone modem chip business.

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

 

[Rychiar]

we'll all have cancer before this gets widespread anyways. LTE still sucks here

 

[Ebok]

i'm on a plan in my country that has 3G data (3mbps) and i see very little difference doing what i normally do on my iPhone compared to when i was on an LTE plan where i was getting 50mbps +

- stream HD sports (720p no issues)
- instagram (takes a bit longer to load but who cares)
- web pages (load pretty fast)

i think switching to the 3G plan was one of the best decisions i could have made. not only did i cut my bill by 50%, i'm on social media less and i'm more productive in my life.

 

[ibphd]

I would send a note indicating my displeasure regarding the adoption of that plan to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. However, last time someone tried that they were threatened with a restraining order by AT&T's lawyers.

 

[slashlos]

The next couple of years will see the rollout of 5G cellular phone networks from companies like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, and it sounds like 5G smartphone plans might not be priced in the same way as current 4G LTE plans.

During today's AT&T earnings call, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said (via The Verge) that he believes the pricing for 5G connectivity could resemble home broadband pricing with different prices for different speed tiers rather than one set price for the fastest connectivity available.

5G networks are still in the early days, so how pricing will ultimately work out remains to be seen. It's also not clear how variable pricing for tiered speeds would work given the fact that 5G connections speeds are going to vary depending on whether you're in a city or in a more rural area.

The fastest 5G speeds, available through mmWave technology, will be limited to urban areas. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg this week explained that millimeter wave high-frequency spectrum isn't suitable for widespread coverage, a sentiment shared by T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray, who wrote a blog post on the subject earlier this week.AT&T has launched its 5G network in a handful of markets across the United States, and other carriers, like Verizon, have also been starting their 5G network rollouts.

There are few smartphones that are able to take advantage of 5G networks at the current time, but additional 5G smartphones are expected later in 2019.

Rumors suggest Apple's first 5G iPhone will come out in 2020, when 5G networks are more mature and more widely available. Apple is planning to use chips from Qualcomm and perhaps Samsung now that Intel is out of the 5G smartphone modem chip business.

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

 

[MadDawg2020]

Is this real 5G which exist pretty much no where right now and works on no devices or the fake LIE 5G LTE which is no different than what everyone uses now?

 

[slashlos]

Very satisfied that we PAID the early termination fee to leave their cellular network years ago. Aside from poor network, clueless and disinformation customer service, it appears now as then their continual money grab. Best money I spent to see the back of them.

 

[hagjohn]

Just as I thought, a city will benefit, everyone else will get ****.

 

[MadDawg2020]

Remember when AT$T actually had data plans with Unlimited Data and that actually meant unlimited data with no caps or no throttles and no tiers?
No they want to throttle and toll and limit everything to take people out of every penny!

 

[PictorGuy]

1. Gig Speed? Really? So that's not just a term used by some bad fixed line company? Do we now call it Meg Speed and Kilo Speed too?

2. Fixed line service providers can offer tiered services because their customers have no choice. AT&T can try and Verizon may follow but as long as there are still more than two options for phone service then tiers won't hold for very long.

 

[goobot]

Might honestly being going to T-Mobile soon.

 

[konqerror]

Electricity is far lower on my cost per month than telecommunications. I obviously use electricity more than telecommunications, as many times I am heating stuff.

My utilities costs haves stayed far more consistent year to year than my ever expanding telecommunications budget.

Utilities costs have not climbed because people use less electricity in total. Therefore, power companies have not had to build new power plants and power lines. You buy more expensive appliances, like LED bulbs and high-efficiency air conditioners, instead. The government forces these energy efficiency measures on you, like the incandescent light bulb ban and laws over the efficiency of wall chargers.

People are using more bandwidth every day. If everybody stuck to SD video, didn't stream music, or use cloud storage, then Internet costs would remain constant.

 

[MoreRumors?]

On Verizon, it looks like you need to be on their Unlimited Plan to use 5G. I spoke to one of the CS to verify this. The reply I got was “the fast speed uses more data”. My reply was ....

I would not be surprised if they decide to price this into different tiers so in this case they can keep their 5G and I will stick with 4G.

 

[Michvuee]

The best part is that there will be data limits/throttles even if 5G does has “unlimited” tier at like $200 a month.

 

[macMD]

So they want us to pay really high rates for "super fast" speeds but when you are not getting those speeds, or you are outside the "urban" areas you are still paying really high prices for squat. I will stick with LTE for now and watch the 5G crowd pay and pay and pay and put less congestion on the LTE network.

 

[Dephtones]

Glad I dumped them years ago.

 

[Misuteri]

5G top tier data plan $99.99 a month, 1 bar everywhere you go with 3G data speeds.

 

[jamesrick80]

Okay AT&T........... and watch T-Mobile take all of your remaining customers by giving non-tiered plans.

 

[kuito]

At some point the government will need to reign in these corporations—probably should have been years ago. Until then we will be hindered compared to others. These advancements in broadband could stem/grow a lot of innovation, but innovation WILL BE hindered with the current state of our country (its people and gov allowing these huge corporations to stifle access)

Net neutrality, local loop unbundling, could really be the means for real access, speeds, and innovation—but we never fight them hard enough.

Not sure what it will take, but it’s a sad state when we just continue to bend over and take it and not do anything.

 

[brofkand]

I would be willing to pay less for less speed, given unlimited or a very high limit data bucket.

I am on Cricket's 3Mbps Unlimited plan and it's great for me. I find that 3Mbps is plenty for my phone use.

 

[KrispE00]

So how many of you are so gung ho about 5G? So you can pay more?

This is why I don’t understand why people demanding 5G now. We all know with how the tech works, coverage will be extremely limited. And obviously, just like how 4G was, carrier’s will charge you a premium for it. Oh and you have to buy a new carrier specific phone too.

Carriers charged a premium for 4G? Not in the US. Prices increased over time as they always do, but not as a direct result of moving from 3G to 4G.

 

[brofkand]

Okay AT&T........... and watch T-Mobile take all of your remaining customers by giving non-tiered plans.

The millions of Americans that don't live within T-Mobile's very limited footprint will stay with AT&T or Verizon.