Now that Verizon has dropped unlimited data plans (and ATT I PHones cost a fortune per month)- could this be used to help Blackberry's cause? I have Youtube, Bberry news feeds, Bloomberg, Blue(great app) and other free ones going through my company T-3 line so (I think) that the data cost is nothing for Verizon. With new devices becoming available would this be helpful t RIM's cause?
VERIZON PLANSNew Verizon Wireless smartphone users will choose between paying $30 for 2 gigabytes, $50 for 5 gigabytes or $80 for 10 gigabytes of monthly data usage, spokeswoman Brenda Rainey said Tuesday. Customers who use more than their allotment will be charged $10 more for each additional gigabyte.
The current unlimited plan costs existing users $30 per month.
And while it may sound enticing to have unlimited data usage, 95 percent of Verizon subscribers use less than 2 gigabytes per month
Blackberry vs IphoneA recently completed mindWireless study, analyzing costs of business users with an iPhone or BlackBerry provided by AT&T and Verizon found the average total cost for a BlackBerry was $103 per month compared to $183 per month for an iPhone. For an enterprise considering allowing 1,000 users to switch from Blackberry to iPhone they can expect their upfront costs to rise by over $100,000 and their annual wireless expense to increase by over $900,000.
The higher cost comes primarily from the wide use of features and international data on iPhones. International travelers have 50 percent higher charges for data roaming on their iPhones. Increased data usage does not always equate to higher costs because 95 percent of users are on unlimited or 2GB data plans for domestic use.
“Data use is clearly the driver for the cost variance between iPhone and Blackberry,” said Brian Hall, manager of Financial Analytics for mindWireless. “By analyzing actual data drawn from our wireless telecommunications expense management clients, we validated a belief that iPhones were inherently more expensive to the enterprise. We found that iPhone users send/receive 66 percent more text and picture messages, with twice as many users requiring a text message plan over 1000 messages/month.
Key comparison findings of the study included:
•Average Monthly Cost: Blackberry $100 iPhone $183
•Average Equipment Cost: Blackberry $136 iPhone $262
•Average Monthly Data Consumption: Blackberry 22MB iPhone232MB
•Mobile Device Management: Blackberry - Available iPhone - Difficult
•International Data Roaming: iPhone 50% higher
•Device Discounts: Blackberry - Frequent Incentives iPhone - Rare Incentives
•Text & Picture Messages: iPhone 66% higher
•Enterprise Server Costs: Blackberry Yes iPhone Optional
Read more:
mindWireless Study Shows iPhones Cost Enterprises 80 Percent More than Blackberries - Press Release - Digital Journal