The number of unlimited data plans in the U.S. wireless industry has been gradually fading.
Now, Verizon Wireless plans to 86 the unlimited data plan it grandfathered in for its 3G customers, Fierce Wireless has reported, citing Verizon chief financial officer Fran Shammo, who revealed the carrier's decision during a J.P. Morgan conference. The wireless titan migrated to a tiered data model last summer but honored the $30-per-month plan for customers already on the plan who wanted to keep it.
Shammo reportedly said all customers will have to move off the unlimited data plan as they migrate to 4G LTE. "Everyone will be on data share," Fierce Wireless quoted Shammo as stating, referring to a new plan that Verizon is set to launch during the summer.
U.S. wireless carriers have been phasing out unlimited plans partly due to the immense pressures on their networks that raise their costs. Carriers have blamed traffic jams and spikes to a small percentage of customers who hog the networks.
AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson recently expressed his regret for offering unlimited data for Apple's iPhone, noting that heavy data users paid relatively less than light users. AT&T discontinued its unlimited plan a few years ago and switched to a tiered model.
"A lot of our 3G base is on unlimited," Shammo said. "When they migrate off 3G they will have to go to data share. That is beneficial to us."
