IP Democracy: iPhone Rate Plan, Activation are Enviously Simple

I have an embarassing confession to make. I pay a huge amount of money to Verizon Wireless every month and I’m not exactly sure what I’m paying for or even how to read my bill. I know I’m not alone, but, hey, I’m in this business and I should be able to grasp a lousy mobile phone bill.

When I got hit with the first nauseating bill, I called Verizon Wireless to have someone explain to me how the tally got so high. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t understand the explanation either, but did grasp that if I upgraded to a more costly monthly plan, I’d save money (how’s that for a mind-bending paradox?) so I did. It has more or less worked out that way, with some shocks along the way, but I couldn’t tell you why.

Am I making fewer phone calls? Using fewer data minutes? Sending fewer text messages? Roaming less? Beats me. I do know that I feel like an idiot when it comes to my wireless bill.

Now, along comes AT&T and Apple with what seems to be a simple rate plan, and the skeptic in me says perhaps it’s deceptively simple. There are three rate options: $59.99, $79.99 and $99.99.

All three offer unlimited data options, which is so cool. The only thing that appears to vary among the three is voice minutes — the $99.99 option maxes out at 1,350 minutes, while the $59.99 option offers 5,000 night and weekend minutes, instead of unlimited nights and weekends.

Text messages are capped under all three plans at 200. So, iPhone customers can control their spending if they know how many text messages they sent and how many voice minutes they used.

The iPhone itself may be a revolutionary force in personal electronics, but it seems to me that the iPhone rate plan could be an even more important revolutionary force in mobile service billing.

Yet another announcement made by Apple and AT&T this morning propels the iPhone to some level of consumer nirvana never conceived of before. The iPhone can be activated at home using iTunes. No more standing around for 90 minutes in cramped retail stores amid unhappy and oftentimes psychotic customers, not to mention surly and disgruntled employees.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on June 26, 2007 9:55 AM to IP Democracy