The future of flat rate data tariffs

The future of flat rate data tariffs

The overwhelming majority of network vendors, operators and service providers do not believe that flat rate data tariffs will continue in a 4G world, according to a survey carried out by Juniper Research.

Its report, 4G LTE Revenue Opportunities, asks how operators will monetise LTE. An overwhelming 87.5% of respondents believe that LTE will serve to accelerate the decline of flat rate data plans; though perhaps more surprising is the fact that over 10% of respondents believe flat rate data plans will continue.

Juniper Research believes that pricing will be tiered into three levels based on usage, with a premium-level package providing a service level agreement, quality of service guarantee or guaranteed connection. Juniper Research also forecasts that LTE service revenues globally will exceed $100 billion by 2014, and that at that time the top three regions (North America, western Europe and China) will account for nearly 90% of LTE revenues.





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