The OEMs have been hyping that their respective upcoming 5G technologies will revolutionize our mobile lives but for most of us, all of that seems to still be theoretical. AT&T is preparing to launch their very own 5G service soon and while we still don’t know what to expect exactly, we might be seeing a new pricing strategy that’s different from what we’ve gotten used to with our mobile plans. Instead of having data tiers, we might get plans based on the speed it can offer.
What everyone has been saying is that 5G speeds are infinitely faster than the 3G and 4G that we’ve gotten used to over the years. They’re also saying that there will be an increase in the capacity of the connection, letting you handle large numbers of devices at the same time. So it does make sense that instead of treating it like you would your regular mobile line, it’s more akin to the broadband connections we have.
According to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, the strategy of pricing tiers based on speed rather than data caps, has worked for the fixed line broadband industry and so it can be adapted to this new 5G service that they’ll be launching soon. He believes that if you’re offering something based on gig speed, people will be willing to pay premium price although he admits that maybe we’re still 2-3 years before that kind of thing happens.
It also makes sense that this will be their approach since they will be targeting businesses more than individuals. They’re looking at a model that will use the 5G connection as a LAN replacement and they won’t even need to have a router. “we expect that there is going to be demand and that there will be price differentiation for speed as you move into a 5G environment,” Stephenson says.
However, since we still don’t have much details about 5G, all this remains speculation at this point. But when it does eventually launch, expect to see usage measurement and pricing tiers to evolve as well.
