cwilliams706
12-18-2009, 02:25 AM
By NIRAJ SHETH (http://www.cellphonesignal.com/search/search_center.html?KEYWORDS=NIRAJ+SHETH&ARTICLESEARCHQUERY_PARSER=bylineAND)
A senior AT&T (http://www.cellphonesignal.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=T) Inc. executive dismissed speculation that the telecommunications carrier is planning to change the way it prices data plans for its wireless customers, but said it will give customers incentives to limit their use of its wireless network for surfing the Internet or downloading mobile applications.
"We have not made any decision to implement tiered pricing," AT&T Mobility Chief Executive Ralph de la Vega said Wednesday, referring to plans that would charge based on how much data a customer uses rather than the unlimited plans that are popular today.
The carrier is considering making more Wi-Fi hot spots free for its mobile customers, where they can access the Internet on a faster network than the cellphone network. It is also running trials of femtocells, boxes that use a home Internet connection and act as mini cellular towers. The purpose is to take significant amounts of traffic off of AT&T's wireless network, Mr. de la Vega said.
Mr. de la Vega declined to comment on the sorts of incentives the company will give customers to use less data. Many of its customers are on an unlimited usage plan.
AT&T has come under criticism from some customers who say the network is too congested and is inferior to competitors'. It has been struggling to keep up with the explosive growth in wireless data, which it says has expanded in volume by nearly 5,000% over the past three years.
A senior AT&T (http://www.cellphonesignal.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=T) Inc. executive dismissed speculation that the telecommunications carrier is planning to change the way it prices data plans for its wireless customers, but said it will give customers incentives to limit their use of its wireless network for surfing the Internet or downloading mobile applications.
"We have not made any decision to implement tiered pricing," AT&T Mobility Chief Executive Ralph de la Vega said Wednesday, referring to plans that would charge based on how much data a customer uses rather than the unlimited plans that are popular today.
The carrier is considering making more Wi-Fi hot spots free for its mobile customers, where they can access the Internet on a faster network than the cellphone network. It is also running trials of femtocells, boxes that use a home Internet connection and act as mini cellular towers. The purpose is to take significant amounts of traffic off of AT&T's wireless network, Mr. de la Vega said.
Mr. de la Vega declined to comment on the sorts of incentives the company will give customers to use less data. Many of its customers are on an unlimited usage plan.
AT&T has come under criticism from some customers who say the network is too congested and is inferior to competitors'. It has been struggling to keep up with the explosive growth in wireless data, which it says has expanded in volume by nearly 5,000% over the past three years.