Verizon Will Introduce Tiered Data Pricing in Next 4 to 6 Months, Says VCast App Store is about ‘Choice’
We have heard talk for a while of Verizon moving to a tiered pricing plan for data on their network along with the launch of their 4G LTE service, and it seems plans are moving ahead. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the new pricing structure could be in place in four to six months. It is unclear whether tiered pricing will apply only to 4G, which is also set to launch in the same timeframe, or if it will be slapped across the board for 3G as well.
There is no talk of exact pricing, but Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg made sure to voice his disagreement with the valuation of data in competitor AT&T’s similar pricing scheme. That leaves some hope for reasonably priced (or as reasonable as VZW pricing could be) data packages to meet the demand of users no matter how much data they chew up month to month. We’re sure to be hearing a lot more about the new pricing over the next few months.
And just like tiered pricing offers users a “choice” when it comes to paying for only the data they use, Verizon is defending the announcement of their own V CAST Apps store for Android phones on the same basis. While many have viewed it as a blatant attempt to one-up Google at their own game, Verizon is taking a different stance. “V CAST Apps is NOT out to take over the phone. It’s about choice, and about simplicy [sic] – carrier-billing — and quality — great apps,” they tweeted in response to questioning at the Verizon Developer Community Conference.
But is it really about choice? Or rather, is there anything wrong with Verizon’s app store? Samsung features media and app stores on their Galaxy S devices in addition to the Android Market. Many carriers without access to the Market or paid apps in the Market have instated their own avenues of pedaling priced apps. Yes, the V CAST Apps store may take a step back from the progressive changes Verizon seemed to make when they launched their first Android device, the Motorola Droid, but it isn’t all gloom and doom for the future.
The point is Android and Google allow for things like third-party app stores and proprietary apps. Yes, it often leads to annoying bloatware or something along the lines of the whole Verizon/Bing/Fascinate fiasco, but it’s part of the reason why carriers and manufacturers are so keen to adopt Android. They can do with it almost anything they want and then turn a huge profit off of the whole deal. It’s the price we have to pay to play in an open source environment. That’s my two-cents, anyway. What about yours?
[via BGR, TechCrunch]