Unlimited data, is it a sustainable model?
May 1, 2018
As someone who has championed simplicity as being key to the success of telecoms services, I find the debate about unlimited data plans a very interesting one. The arguments for simplicity are clear – easy to use services with transparent pricing can only be a good thing for the consumers. Essentially you know what using a service will cost and don’t expect any surprises when your bill arrives. In this regard, unlimited data plans offer a fairly straightforward approach, and are a great tool to attract the new breed of customers who have a voracious appetite for streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Spotify, among others. In fact, it’s led to a huge explosion of mobile data traffic growth across the globe.
However, the problem for the network operators remains the same as it’s always been – where is the value in unlimited / flat-rate plans, and do they then go down the slippery-slope to being a provider of the access network and transport only? At a time when telcos are struggling with wafer thin margins, competing with non-traditional players and encountering newer technological paradigms (such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things), telcos may be entering potentially dangerous territory if they continue to offer unlimited data plans. It seems that this is one of those rare moments when giving customers what they want, may not be the best course of action.
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