so if verizon loses how is everyone so sure theyll just jack the data prices up?
and also if they do increase the data plans, what would happen to people that are grandfathered?
They can tack on a few bucks, but more likely it will just affect the tiers.
Right now, someone with a smartphone and tether plan pays $50 a month, that's "unlimited" data plus 2 gigs of tether. So VZW could include tether, and charge you $50 for 4 gigs (or something like $30 for 2 gigs and $10 for each additional gig, tether included all the way). Basically what AT&T is doing now (though I think it's $40 or $45) with the Atrix & lapdock. The other carriers will follow suit, but it's a form of tacit collusion since there's no real incentive to break the ranks as any subscriber gain is short-lived when the other carriers adjust accordingly.
VZW isn't just going to say "you got us", come out with a great smartphone data plan and then watch all their tether revenue go up in smoke. They have people with multiple data plans paying anywhere from $60 to $110 or more, and that's not counting families with simply multiple smartphones. It's $80 for 10gigs on a mobile broadband card, so see how $30 for 2 gigs and $10 for each additional gig, all including tether, works? Maybe we'll be super lucky and it will be $5 each additional gig, or maybe they'll start us off with 5gigs for $30.
But most people don't use over 2gigs, so they'll have really no complaint. But the people who have been whining about tether all along and using it as their ISP are going to be really upset. Any way you slice it, the free ride is over, which is what some people are really crying about.
