Just one week after Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) changed its data pricing to a usage-based model, with several tiers of service ranging from $30 for 2 GB to $80 for 10 GB, Verizon Wireless CTO David Small told CNET that the company is considering other billing concepts, such as billing based upon time of day. "Maybe people would want to download a video at 1 a.m. when the network is not as busy. So time of day versus network utilization could be something we think about down the road," Small said.
In the wide-ranging interview with CNET, Small also said that he believes data consumption on LTE networks is different than traditional data consumption, adding that many applications such as machine-to-machine, need the low latency of the LTE network, but aren't necessarily data-intensive. He also said that there are many techniques such as video buffering that can help ease network demand.
When questioned about Verizon's support for operating systems beyond Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android, such as Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone 7, Small said that as long as there is demand for a particular platform, the company will look at it. "I would never say never about any platform."
Small's comments about different data pricing models were not the first time a Verizon executive has hinted at more billing models beyond usage-based. In May Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo hinted that Verizon will move to shared data plans for multiple devices after it introduces the usage-based pricing, though he did not give a timetable for doing so.
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