In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) chief executive Ivan Seidenberg said the company is looking at ways to charge subscribers based on both the speed of their mobile data connection and the amount of data consumed as the operator launches LTE. In addition, he said Verizon's first LTE phone would come in February, which is earlier than expected.
Verizon said it will launch LTE in 38 markets before the end of the year, and it hasn't committed to any pricing plans.
"If you want to pay for less speed, you'll pay for less speed and consume more, or you can pay for high speed and consume less," Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo told the publication. Since LTE can deliver data between 1 and 12 Mbps, Verizon could introduce tiered pricing plans based on speed, similar to what wired broadband providers offer.
Still, it's not clear whether Verizon would abandon unlimited pricing plans as Seidenberg declined to declare the end of them. "I don't think the world's that simple," he said. "We need to get into it, figure out what the customer thinks is fair, and go from there."
On the device front, the Consumer Electronics Show will unleash a number of 4G devices, with and LTE phone coming in February. Seidenberg said to expect a number of 4G devices coming to market earlier than expected.
For more:
- see this Wall Street Journal article
Related articles:
Verizon calling LTE service '4G LTE'
Verizon to launch LTE in 38 markets this year
Verizon planning LTE push into enterprises