Will T-Mobile's Danger Plans Destroy Carrier ARPU?
While analysts are predicting that T-Mobile’s (eventual) rollout of the Danger device will be met with strong adoption rates by both consumer and business users, they wonder if the flat-rate, all-you-can eat pricing will cause problems for the rest of the wireless industry. They’re afraid that such flat-rate pricing will force others to offer similar data plans, which they’re worried will cut down on revenue from each customer. This seems like a painfully shortsighted view. What they don’t say is that by offering flat-rate pricing, adoption rates and usage are more likely to soar – leading to new ways of using the devices and new services that are likely to significantly increase revenue opportunities. These must be the same analysts who thought that AOL’s flat-rate pricing move many years ago would destroy the ISP industry, instead of suddenly making everyone want to log on to the internet.
