Monday, June 12, 2006
the cell phone gauntlet
So I may be dating myself by calling them cell phones instead of mobile phones.
But pretty soon people will just be calling them phones without the need of an adjetive. Ampd mobile (yes I spelled that correctly) has UNLIMITED nationwide plans starting at $99/month. Meanwhile most carriers cheapest plans start at $30/month.
See, what the carriers have been doing is keeping the lowest priced plan cheap, and every year to stay competitive have given you more minutes for the same money. But now there are no more minutes to give. So that $99/month price will get cheaper every year. As it gets cheaper it puts pressure on the entry plans to get cheaper too.
Then before you know it we have the same situation we have with internet access and long distance telephone. Cheap, unlimited monthly plans.
If you own any stock in a wireless company, today would be a good day to sell it.
But pretty soon people will just be calling them phones without the need of an adjetive. Ampd mobile (yes I spelled that correctly) has UNLIMITED nationwide plans starting at $99/month. Meanwhile most carriers cheapest plans start at $30/month.
See, what the carriers have been doing is keeping the lowest priced plan cheap, and every year to stay competitive have given you more minutes for the same money. But now there are no more minutes to give. So that $99/month price will get cheaper every year. As it gets cheaper it puts pressure on the entry plans to get cheaper too.
Then before you know it we have the same situation we have with internet access and long distance telephone. Cheap, unlimited monthly plans.
If you own any stock in a wireless company, today would be a good day to sell it.
Comments:
I just saw an add for Ampd this morning. So far we use the pay as you go phones. Which is good for us since we both lost the original phones. We found one but it had been too long . . . Maybe someday we'll switch but for right now--I like the few minutes of unattainability by not having one all the time.
Post a Comment
