NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Mobile phone companies have been lauded
for slashing the cost of unlimited voice plans, but many wireless
customers' monthly bills are actually going to get a bit more expensive.
Last month, both Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) and AT&T (T, Fortune 500) lowered their unlimited voice plans by $30 to $70 per month. Sprint (S, Fortune 500) recently unveiled a plan that allows unlimited calls to any mobile device for $60 per month. That brought the three biggest mobile carriers' prices closer to rival T-Mobile, which offers a $60 per month unlimited plan, and in line with a slew of low-cost carriers that offer similar plans for about $40 per month.
But as the wireless giants go around touting their lower voice prices, data plan costs have been quietly moving higher for some non-smartphone customers.
It began with Verizon Wireless. Last month, that company began requiring certain non-smartphone customers to subscribe to a data plan that costs at least $10 per month. Mobile experts believe Verizon's move marks the first step in a larger trend to make up for carriers' lost revenue from voice.
"There's a big shift going on among mobile companies, in which there is a price reduction on voice and an increased emphasis on selling and requiring data services," said Dan Hays, partner at PRTM. "It is like a dirty little secret."
Smartphone owners are used to paying for an unlimited data plan with T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T customers doling out the most: roughly $30 per month. Sprint offers a slightly different service, but also requires smartphone users to subscribe to an unlimited plan.
But non-smartphone customers aren't used to high-priced data plans. Less expensive, limited data plans have been largely available but not widely adopted. Verizon said it began to require new customers who purchase so-called "3G multimedia" phones to subscribe to a data plan in part so that they could get the full functionality out of their phones.
"Many customers didn't understand they could use the Web on their phones," said Brenda Raney, spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless. "We hope that people who were reluctant to use data plans because they didn't know it was affordable will use them now."
Previously, Verizon offered non-smartphone customers two data plans: $10 for up to 25 megabytes or $20 for up to 75 megabytes. In January, Verizon eliminated the $20 plan and replaced it with a $30 unlimited plan that was previously available only to smartphone users.
3G multimedia phones include a wide array of phones, ranging from the LG enV Touch, which has a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard, to the Motorola Entice, essentially a standard flip phone that can access the mobile Web. CONTINUE READING...
