Verizon CEO echoes AT&T, Sprint on data plans for multiple devices

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) CEO Daniel Mead hinted the carrier will consider offering buckets of data that subscribers can access via a range of devices. Mead's comments echo recent statements from executives at other carriers.

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) CEO Daniel Mead In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mead said the carrier is open to the possibility of a "family plan" for mobile data, whereby an allotment of data could be shared among subscribers.

"I think it's fully in the realm of possibility in the not-to-distant future to be able to start thinking through the options," he said, adding that he would describe such an offering as "account-level pricing." "How do we get to 300 percent-400 percent penetration? That's a vehicle to get there."

Last week, executives from both AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) hinted at a similar kind of pricing paradigm.

Mead, who became the carrier's CEO Oct. 1, , said Verizon is "encouraged" by its holiday promotion of 150 MB for $15 per month. He said the company may eventually move to metered data pricing entirely, but that it will stick with its $30 for unlimited smartphone data for now.

The Verizon chief also said he sees the company's LTE network as "a very practical and encouraging substitution for DSL, particularly when you look at rural markets." Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg said last week that in time, he sees LTE as a "modest substitute" for cable Internet service.

For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

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