It’s no secret that wireless service providers in the U.S. are seeking to end unlimited data subscription plans. AT&T’s changes to wireless data packages for its iPhone customers and Verizon’s impending tiered data plans are just two harbingers. But what could replace monthly flat-fee pricing for all-you-can eat data?
All Things Digital reports that U.S. carriers might follow in the footsteps of Orange, the wireless service arm of France Telecom. One of the wireless data plans the French carrier is testing is, in essence, a shared data plan similar to a family plan, where talk minutes are shared. Subscribers pay a flat monthly fee for wireless data service and an additional device fee for every smart phone, tablet, or laptop that pulls from the plan’s bucket of data.
Early results, according to Orange, are encouraging. The company reports that nearly 40 percent of iPad users are on a shared data plan in Austria, where Orange has been testing the offering.
Both AT&T and Verizon are reportedly considering such family data plans as well, since they may remove a key concern for consumers: Cost. Instead of buying a new data plancapped or notfor each new wireless device, subscribers can just add them to an existing plan.
Consumer Reports offers cell phone buying advice to help you navigate the tricky waters of shopping for a wireless service. And our recent analysis of tiered data plans can help you figure out they make sense for your wireless data needs.
Would you like U.S. service providers begin to offer such shared data plans? Or would such a move just add confusion to the process of shopping for mobile devices?
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