Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone?...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that...

U.S. Carriers Become Dumb Pipes

pipeline
I’m honestly floored that this happened so quickly. Officially today, Verizon Wireless announced that it was offering a new unlimited plan, and was immediately flanked by T-Mobile and AT&T with similar plans. Sprint Nextel has had theirs for a short while now, and this was all started by MetroPCS and other MVNOs offering similar unlimited offerings.

The exact details of each monthly package aren’t really relevant, but if you’d like to read them, you can check out Verizon’s, AT&Ts, Sprint’s, and T-Mobile’s. The important and relevant part of all this is that the four major carriers in the United States have now officially become dumb pipes. Sure, the plans are slightly pricey, most hovering around $120 for minutes and messaging of some sort. However, it’s only a matter of time before data is added to these and the prices begin to drop. Back to School season is coming in 6 months, followed by the Christmas phone shopping season, if you don’t believe me.

You now have your phone, you pay monthly for the privilege of it being ‘active’, and that’s it. No more counting minutes, messages, or data. Mobile service in the U.S. is no longer a luxury, with more well-to-do customers getting more abilities, functionality, and features than someone else. It’s unlimited. Everyone has the same.

The doors have now been opened for the carriers to *finally* compete where they should have been all along – network quality (not advertising, but actually DELIVERING), innovative features such as Spinvox messaging and the like, and other quality of service (and not quantity of service) offerings.

I, for one, am thoroughly excited to see how this pans out in the market.

6 COMMENTS

  1. A bit early, but yes, this is essentially finally happening. Unfortnuately, until the adoption of devices in the mid- and high-end increase, we will still see no attempts on the side of carriers to greatly improve network quality and reliability.

    Honestly speaking, I don’t think any carrier can afford to have even 50% of their users maximizing their networks. If they could, then the pipes would have already been bursting in some areas with atypical usage.

    Antoine of MMM/Brighthand’s last blog post..Carnival of the Mobilists 112

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recently Published

Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an HP LaserJet printer (version 3, if memory serves), I have been printing with an HP. Over the...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone? I'm asking because I'm thinking about what I should be doing. When I was living in Oman, I...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that next to nothing from Mobile World Congress would break through into the mainstream media. I was right,...

How Wireless Will Pave the Path to Neobank Profitability

I'm delighted to bring you an opinion piece from Rafa Plantier at Gigs.com. I think it's particularly relevant given the recent eSIM news from...

An end of an era: Vodafone UK turns off 3G services

I thought it was worthwhile highlighting this one from the Vodafone UK team. For so long - for what feels like years, seeing the...

Mobile World Congress: Did the mainstream media notice?

I resolved this year to make sure I wrote something - anything - about Mobile World Congress, the huge mobile industry trade show taking...