Verizon CFO Claims Unlimited Data Is ‘Short-Term Game’ And Metered Plans Are The Future

If you're one of those rare folks that happen to have an unlimited plan without any caveats, you're in a very enviable situation. It's clear that most carriers don't want to offer unlimited packages at all, and if they do, they typically raise the price enough over time to encourage subscribers hop over to a metered package. And then we have those carriers that like to call packages "unlimited" when they're anything but.

Are we ever going to live in a world where unlimited mobile data doesn't seem like such a luxury? Not if Verizon Chief Financial Officer Francis Shammo has anything to do with it. He's gone on record to say, "I've been pretty public saying the unlimited model does not work in an LTE environment", which to some might seem like a cop out. What's not explained is why unlimited wouldn't work. Instead, all we hear are excuses and are told about what we can expect in the future.

Shammo believes that it simply isn't feasible to offer unlimited data. "Eventually unlimited is going to go away because you have to generate cash to reinvest." At the end of the day, this is all being said in the name of business, with a major focus on keeping shareholders in a good mood.

Shammo realizes that customers have limits; they're only going to want to spend a certain amount of money on communications each month. That includes phone, Internet, TV, et cetera. With that reality, Shammo's thought is, "we have to be able to have them consume more, but monetize that consumption in other forms."

Well, it sure seems like if we don't get unlimited data, certain carriers are going to be making it their mission to pry our hard-earned dollars away from us somehow. Ultimately, what matters at the end of the day is that customers go with whichever carrier offers the best service for the money.