Much of the mobile phone industry is embracing the concept of rollover data. But don’t expect holdout Verizon to join the party. On Thursday, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo stated that his company has decided not to offer its customers the ability to roll their unused data allowance into future billing cycles.
Verizon is currently in an enviable position in the cellular industry – it has the largest nationwide 4G LTE network, the highest reliability rate (93.2%) and competitive download speeds. It’s the biggest mobile carrier in the U.S., and as a result, it does not feel the need to compete with all the promotions and sales being run by the rest of the pack.
“We’re a leader, not a follower,” Shammo said during an interview with CNET. “We did not go to places where we did not financially want to go to save a customer. And there's going to be certain customers who leave us for price, and we are just not going to compete with that because it doesn't make financial sense for us to do that.”
In December 2014, T-Mobile became the first mobile carrier to offer its postpaid customers rollover data with its new Data Stash plan. AT&T then followed suit, announcing that its Mobile Share Value plan customers will automatically gain a data rollover benefit effective January 25, 2015. Neither plan has a limit on the amount of data that can be rolled over, though roll over data expires after a year with T-Mobile’s plan and after a month with AT&T’s.
Yesterday, Verizon disappointed Wall Street analysts by announcing lower-than-expected profits for the fourth quarter of 2014. The company placed blame on increasing price competition with other mobile carriers.
[Image credit: AT&T]
