The Bob Clark

4G is the future, but Chicago may see the prices go up to cope with over use

Citizens of Chicago, as well as all citizens of the United States, may see their smart phone or Iphone bills increase as cell phone companies, such as Verizon Wireless, begin looking at plans to charge a bit more for Internet usage, according to reports.

The reason for this, according to the report, is that many people who have unlimited Internet plans are not utilizing them as the companies had originally planned, in the sense that they are not downloading large, heavy files.  Instead, they are merely over-surfing the net, which is costing wireless Internet and cell phone companies a bundle since they are now forced to upgrade to 4G and advanced mobile broadband services.

This, unfortunately, should come as no surprise to anyone.  With the current amount of smart phones that have already been sold in today’s market, it seems like everybody has an Iphone or Blackberry and is always connected.  Whether they are constantly checking their emails, taking photos and uploading them or simply exploring the Internet, people have adapted with the new technology to become constant connectors.

Additionally, since the release of 4G, which enables people to download from not only their phone but also their laptop with rapid speeds, more and more people have begun over-surfing on a daily basis. So, in order to combat this over usage, the companies are now increasing and restructuring their billing formats to fit with the constant demand of wireless Internet activity.

Similar to water and power sources that charge per usage, cell phone companies are in discussions about planning cell phone bills around Internet usage. The more a person logs on and downloads videos from YouTube and checks their email, the more they will have to pay for the usage.  Similarly, the less they utilize the Internet to constantly check up on things, the less they will have to pay for the service.

Ideally, the structures of these plans will, in a sense, clear up the Internet airwaves that have basically seen a situation similar to Los Angeles rush hour traffic over the last two to three years, when smart phone technology really began making an impact on the consumer market.  Honestly, there are so many people constantly on their phones browsing the Internet that it has become a social norm, something that society expects to see everywhere. So, people will now not always be on their phones, checking the weather, seeing current movie show times or downloading new applications because the more time they spend on the Internet, the more it will cost them.

However, companies cannot discuss price plan changes without the implementation of faster, reliable networks.  The new plans, in fact, will be slowly rolled out through a wireless standard called “Long Term Evolution” that will also include even faster Internet speeds.  In some areas of Chicago, the download speeds could exceed landline DSL connections, ranging above 1Mbps.

So, although price increases are something that no one wants to hear, the increase in download speeds could easily off set that.  Not to mention that if people can access information and use the Internet in less time, due to the rapid download rate, they will thus spend less money on Internet access.  In a nutshell, it is almost a win-win scenario.

6/29/2010-According to a Bloomberg report, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) will finally begin offering Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone on its network beginning in January of 2011. Shares of Verizon (NYSE:VZ) are trading 0.3% higher while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is off 3.5%.
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