AT&T CEO Says Mobile 5G Plans May Be Tiered Based on Speed

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson believes that mobile providers may soon charge users based on the speed of their connection, similar to how plans for broadband Internet work at home. Stephenson made the comments during today's earnings call.

“I will be very surprised if, as we move into wireless, the pricing regime in wireless doesn’t look something like the pricing regime you see in fixed line,” Stephenson said. “If you can offer a gig speed, there are some customers that are willing to pay a premium for 500 meg to a gig speed, and so forth. So I expect that to be the case. We’re two to three years away from seeing that play out.”

It may be a while before we see carrier's shift their strategy on charging for 5G. Currently, AT&T only has 5G live in 19 markets and the only device that can take advantage of the network is a mobile hotspot. The Galaxy S10 5G will eventually arrive at AT&T after a period of exclusivity on Verizon and a second Samsung 5G device will be released in the later half of 2019.


Verizon is charging an extra $10/month for its 5G network but that's only available on the Moto Mod. Once 5G devices are commonplace, it wouldn't be surprising if tiered plans are introduced.

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[via Verge]