4G Could Enable Different Mobile Packaging and Pricing, Verizon Says

When Clearwire launched its services, it suggested it would be able to offer different types of mobile pricing and packaging, including offers that did not rely on monthly subscriptions. Clearwire has done so, with some a la carte plans. But most observers might agree that Clearwire has not disrupted pricing or packaging quite so much as some might have hoped.

Now Verizon executives say they are taking a look at what they might do once the new Long Term Evolution network launches, and among the possible options being looked at are packages that resemble fixed-line broadband plans in some ways, such as charging different prices for plans that feature different typical speeds, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Another potential option: plans that blend speed and transferred megabytes in some way, possibly lower access speeds and bigger buckets of usage, or faster speed and a smaller bucket, for example.

Some of us would like to see the equivalent of broadband "family plans" where a number of devices could share a single broadband bucket, across devices, either "wireless only" or "wireless and fixed line." In a sense, that is how some people use personal 3G or 4G hotspots, for example. But those only work for one user or several users in close proximity. Families will need to use wireless and fixed-line services over a wider area.

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