Tiered AT&T pricing to target heavy data usage
Found on CNet News on Tuesday, 08 December 2009
AT&T wants its iPhone users to use less wireless data, and it plans to introduce new pricing models to curb users' data usage as it tries to keep up with growing demand.
AT&T has been reluctant to admit that there is a problem, but recently, the company has acknowledged that problems exist.
Unlike voice service, which is already tiered, wireless-data service is charged at an all-you-can-eat flat rate.
For now, it looks as if AT&T will try to slow the growth with hefty prices. It will be interesting to see if its competitors follow suit.
So, in other words, AT&T doesn't want to (or can't) upgrade it's infrastructure fast enough to deal with the increased usage. Instead, it simply uses higher price tags and hoping that this will stop customers from using the services. Well, it's not the first time the flat-rate plan backfired at a company who does not want to upgrade. It's always easier to blame the customer for using what he paid for.