Verizon and the pain of capped data

As of July 7 of this year Verizon Wireless will no longer offer unlimited data plans for smartphone users. Instead users will receive 2GB of data for the same price they were previously able to get unlimited. The change doesn't come as a surprise since AT&T made the same move 1 year and 1 month ago to the day.

AT&T customers have learned to cope with the plans but Verizon customers won't have the same offerings to help ease the pain. AT&T's offering gave 2GB at $25 and for those that truly used less data could go as low as $15 a month. Verizon starts at $30 and goes up from there.

Data plans:

2GB - $30/month
5GB - $50/month
10GB - $80/month

Tethering can be added to any plan, you can purchase 2GB of data at an additional cost of $20 per month.

Data plans w/ tethering:

4GB - $50/month
7GB - $70/month
12GB - $100/month

If you go over your purchased amount of data, it will cost you $10 per 1GB.

The one saving grace which has yet to be revealed (also yet to be confirmed) is the ability to share data. In my own personal situation this would help out greatly since I am the data hog and my wife does very little billable with hers coming in over the home wifi. I would come out ahead since currently I'm paying $60 in data, together we may total 5GB a month, in sharing I would only pay $50.

Verizon's approach to new family share plans is interesting. Rather than putting each line on a plan such as a $60 Primary Share and $9.99 Secondary Share, the new process will be separating the two. It's called Account Level billing and just as the name suggests the price plan will be associated with the account and not each line. If the data package is also on the account level then two lines would have the ability to share one 2GB plan.

Regardless of whether it's better or not, the transition will be confusing and annoying to the customer. Trying to talk about amounts of data on a broad band access card to a customer is already challenging since it's so objective. AT&T however has proved in a year that boxing in customers into restrictive plans won't be enough to make them leave.

Giving your employees a cell phone

This post first appeared on Droid Portal.

As a new business experiences growth new projects will become viable and providing cell phones to it's employees is a common goal small business owner want to accomplish. Before handing a cell phone to any employee a business owner should write policy to define the terms of use with the business phone. There should also be a strategy in place that focuses on keeping costs in check.

The first question a business owner should ask themselves is corporate liable or employee liable.

Corporate Liable - The wireless bill comes addressed to the business and is the responsibility of the business.
Employee Liable - The employee pays the wireless bill directly and is later reimbursed by their company. There are benefits to both options mentioned above so first let's look at Corporate Liability.
The business is the complete owner and party responsible for payment of the bill. A company that goes with corporate liability is most likely looking for control, visibility, and security. In this case a corporation doesn't have to solely rely on their cellular use policy to govern how the service is used. A corporation retains ownership of the cell phone, has the right to put security software on the device, and can always look at the account in depth.

One of the negatives especially if you are dealing with a relatively new employee is lack of flexibility. If you purchase a phone and sign an agreement for a new employee and three months later they're gone then you are stuck with an extra phone. For a business that is implementing their first cellular use policy the corporate liable option may not be the best choice.

Employee Liable offers much freedom and flexibility.
Just because the employee is purchasing their own equipment and has service in their name doesn't mean that the corporation loses all control. This is what your Cellular Use policy is for. In this scenario your employee will sign a copy of your Cellular Use policy which entitles you to govern certain aspects of your employee's use of cell phones. In both instances you should have a well written CU Policy but here you rely more on your employee choosing to follow those policies. In your CU Policy clearly state what the ramifications are for not following parts of your policy. An employee could lose reimbursement for their cell phone or depending upon your policy could be terminated. Termination sounds extreme but placing it there gives you protection in the event an employee uses their cell phone negligently that could potentially harm your company.

One of the great benefits of employee liable is if you have to terminate an employee or they quit then you are not responsible for their wireless bill.

The corporate liable option gives more direct control over the cell phone. However that level of control may not be necessary and may be cumbersome at times. A strong Cellular Use policy will be more than sufficient in an employee liable case and will not have the same risks of overburdening your budget.