More Granular Mobile Data Plans from Verizon Wireless

Verizon's new mobile broadband plans for the Apple iPad seem crafted for usage somewhere between smartphones and PCs.

Smartphone owners typically are expected to consume hundreds of kilobytes a month.

Users of mobile broadband for their notebooks or netbooks might consume a couple gigabytes a month.

Tablets that might be used heavily for content consumption could in some cases represent heavier demand that that, but not as much as many PCs on fixed connections. More granular pricing will be helpful, even though users might be expected to worry that they do not know enough right now to pick the best plan.

Carriers can help by providing better usage tools, communicating with customers and by being more flexible about allowing end users to shift plans when their usage behaviors change.

Users have gotten pretty comfortable with "buckets of usage," and mobile broadband buckets ultimately should be as acceptable as voice buckets have been.

Prioritized Gaming an Example of Why Net Neutraltiy Might Not be a Good Thing

Demon, a U.K. ISP, has created a new broadband package that prioritizes gaming traffic, a prime example of why network neutrality can reduce end user value.

The ISP's new "Game Pro" broadband will prioritize gamer traffic, providing a better experience for users who want that capability.

Demon will essentially give an assured rate to anyone willing to shell out the extra £3 a month for the gaming broadband. The Game Pro package starts at £23 a month.

"What we're doing is putting gamers into a business grade network," Carl Warner, Demon manager says.

Off peak, there will be no usage restrictions, but those who sign up to the package will be limited to 100GB a month between 8am and 11pm - which Demon said was double the top usage needed according to gaming companies it asked.

Demon to prioritise gaming broadband traffic

Android and Mobile OS Trends

Google: When You See a Product Hockey Stick Growth Curve, Pour it On

Google's philosophy when it comes to allocating money and resources: If the graph of a product's growth looks like a hockey stick, pour fuel on the fire.

And it looks like Google Instant will be available on mobiles this year.

Multiple Android App Stores a "Net Win" for Android

Google apparently believes Android app stores operated by other companies, such as Verizon, possibly Amazon or Best Buy, are a "net win," since the goal of the app stores is to create revenue for developers, not Google.

To the extent that multiple Android stores support that goal, it is a win for everybody in the ecosystem.

Where Consumers Spend Their Communications-Related Money

Whatever else we might say about where U.S consumers spend their money on communications and entertainment, it seems clear enough they prefer to spend on broadband and Internet than voice, on video entertainment more than wireless.

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Will Communications or Entertainment Spending Take a Dip?

There generally is a very-stable relationship between household income and household spending on communications and entertainment.

Over quite long periods of time, the percentage of household income spent on communications or entertainment is unusually stable as a percentage of total household disposable income.

What could be important, for that reason, is any change in the amount of household income. One wouldn't be surprised to see an unexpected bit of a dip in the percentages as the "recovery" continues to struggle along.

If household income falls, people will wind up paying a higher percentage of total disposable income, or will have to adjust communications or entertainment spending downward.