Data has been the latest cash cow for carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and others. In the past few years, since Smartphones have become very popular many carriers have done away with unlimited data and introduced tiered data. AT&T for example will give you 3GB of data for $30 per month in addition to the other fees they charge for voice, text and random fees and taxes.
Data traffic is expected to increase over the next 5 years by about 300%, now that’s a huge jump. Non-PC devices are also expected to be more than 50% of that usage. Which many of us already use our phones and tablets more than our PC’s. Cisco’s CEO, John Chambers is speaking at D11 today and said that networks will be able to handle all that data transfer as well. he also said that mobile plans will get cheaper. “Price points are going to come down rapidly”. Which if T-Mobile has anything to say about it, plans will definitely become cheaper.
“Transport will become free,” said Chambers. He also forecasted a world where cellular data charges fall just like voice cell service. “Architectures will change. With intelligence throughout the network, the network will become the platform of the future.”
Chambers also said that universal connectivity is coming closer and closer thanks to SP Wi-Fi, which is Cisco’s “Service Provider Wi-Fi” that uses unlicensed spectrum to offload data. Wi-Fi will account for 80-90% of the growth of cellular networks. This is going to enable enterprise to go to emerging markets, according to Box CEO Aaron Levie who was on stage with Cisco’s CEO. More people will be online all over the world that creates “a massive market opportunity by dramatically increasing what you can do.” So it could really change the scope of the enterprise to have that many more customers.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d certainly welcome cheaper data plans. Even data only plans. Since I barely use any minutes or texts, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one out there. How many of you would like to see cheaper data plans? Possibly even cheaper unlimited data plans? Let us know in the comments down below.