Report: LTE pricing isn't very innovative

A new report from Ovum cites a lack of new and innovative pricing among those operators that are operating LTE networks.

"We looked at the LTE pricing strategies of operators in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the US, and were disappointed with our findings," noted Nicole McCormick, Ovum senior analyst and author of the report. "LTE provides operators with the opportunity to experiment with new and innovative pricing models, which allows them to find the best way of deriving revenues from the premium service.However, most operators have not grasped this opportunity. Instead, LTE tariffs in the regions Ovum analyzed are dominated by unlimited offerings and large data buckets, which can be problematic."

McCormick did note that Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) , SK Telecom, NTT DoCoMo and LG U+ have stayed away from unlimited LTE offerings.

However the report also found that charging high premiums for LTE services is not sustainable in the long run due to competitive pressures in the industry and increased migration to 4G services.

"Operators will need to be careful not to alienate high-end customers that have paid a premium for a fast, high-quality service by reducing LTE tariffs too quickly or drastically," McCormick said.

For more:
- see this Cellular-News article

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