At today's Goldman Sachs investor conference, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo had a bit to say about unlimited data plans, and what he (and presumably Verizon) thought about them. There's a link to the full transcript below, but here's a direct quote.
So what customers are understanding and through our good sales routine is once you explain to a customer their usage on a monthly basis, unlimited is just a word, it doesn't really mean anything and that people don't really -- I think a lot of consumers think they consume a lot more data than they really do. So that whole unlimited thing I think is going by the wayside and they see the benefit of going to the shared.
Shammo is probably right. Most people don't need unlimited data plans. But for those that do need them, it's not very good news to see that there's little chance of them ever returning. Should Sprint get their LTE network in a more usable state, or T-Mobile expand their high-speed HSPA+ beyond highways and metro areas, there could be a shift among power users away from Big Red. Both carriers now have data-friendly full unlimited plans at reasonable pricing.
I've no dog in this fight. I'm one of the lucky few (very few) with good T-Mobile service, and my ancient Android data plan gives me all I can eat. I'm curious to hear from the rest of you guys. Agree with Mr. Shammo? Hit the break and answer the poll, then fill the comments with blind rage your thoughts.
