AT&T is once again dropping hints that the carrier wants to change (read: increase) wireless data pricing. Many investors have been pressuring the company to ditch the $30 unlimited iPhone data plan and instead replace it with some kind of metered billing model. That’s largely because as carriers begin to open their networks to push IM clients and mobile VoIP, they’ll be losing a lot of money on voice and SMS. The only way to counter those losses will be to charge more money for mobile data. Enter AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who this week tells Reuters the changes will be coming soon:

Stephenson expects changes in how the wireless industry prices its mobile data services going forward, with heavy data users being charged more. Smartphone users currently pay a monthly fee of about $30 for unlimited data. “For the industry, we’ll progressively move toward more of what I call variable pricing so the heavy (use) consumers will pay more than the lower consumers,” Stephenson said.

What Stephenson calls “variable pricing” is confused by many to mean per-byte billing. While the idea of only paying for what you use sounds great to those not paying attention, the plans AT&T and Verizon actually wind up implementing are very carefully crafted to drive most user bills ever higher. Verizon for instance now offers users the option of paying either $9.95 for a phone data plan with a 25MB cap (20 cents per additional MB, 125 MB maximum), or $30 for “unlimited” (which actually means 5 GB a month) service. This is in addition to SMS, voice, and other monthly fees.

These plans really aren’t about making “heavy users” pay more, they’re about getting everybody to pay more. Since most users consume much more than 25 MB per month, they’ll all wind up upgrading to the more expensive plan in the belief it offers a better consumer value. But suddenly, here you are paying more than $100 a month for voice, data and SMS plan when you’re really not a particularly heavy user. Most users are somewhere around 200 MB a month, though you’ll note the absence of a $20, 300 MB plan.

Meanwhile, you’ve got AT&T and Verizon also now requiring that everybody have an SMS and data plan on their phone — whether they actually use data or not. What’s designed to look like value and choice is in most cases the exact opposite. When thinking of 3G pricing, picture a giant invisible funnel that propels users toward one inevitable outcome: paying more money.

Whatever pricing emerges, eventually users will realize they want to connect multiple devices to these 3G and 4G networks without having to pay a subscription fee for each and every device. While some people think the $15 for 250 MB a month or $30 for “unlimited” 3G pricing of the iPad is a “great” deal, most people simply aren’t going to want to pay yet another monthly fee just for iPad bandwidth after shelling out for both home and wireless connections. Amazingly enough AT&T agrees, Stephenson saying he sees the iPad as a largely Wi-Fi device as a result

“My expectation is that there’s not going to be a lot of people out there looking for another subscription,” he said during a webcast of an investor conference, adding that the device would be a mainly “Wi-Fi driven product.”

Even the company that’s providing the iPad’s 3G functionality doesn’t think you’re willing to pony up the extra cash, which is saying something. Whatever changes AT&T has in store for their bandwidth pricing, make absolutely no mistake that the end result is going to be you paying more money for mobile bandwidth, regardless of whether you use 100 MB a month, or four gigabytes a month. It’s absolutely essential to carrier execs and investors eager to compensate for lost voice and SMS revenues. Anybody claiming otherwise is either selling you something or not reading the fine print.

Link to the original article…

The above picture is my Sony PSP UMD collection. There are about 22 games in the above picture – minus a couple that I’ve loaned out and the one in my current Sony PSP-3000. So in total let’s say 25. It’s a neat little pile of actual store bought UMD’s that Sony would rather I forget that I owned, push them all aside, purchase their new Sony PSP Go which costs $249 USD and then start the purchasing process all over again if I really wanted to purchase the Sony PSP Go.

While shopping this weekend, my 8 year old son saw the new PSP Go and in his curiosity started to ask a few questions. When my answers to his questions were that “The new Sony PSP doesn’t play the same games you’ve already seen around the house, you have to purchase and download each and every game…” and that answer didn’t phase him. He’s already gotten used a Nintendo DSi that also had the ability to play downloaded games alongside cartridge games. What did bother him though, was a question by him that led to this rant… “If you already have a lot of PSP (UMD) games, why won’t Sony let you download them onto the Sony PSP Go since you’ve already bought it once?”

“Good question son…”

Then it hit me. There’s no compelling reason to buy the Sony PSP Go for a Sony PSP UMD owner with a lot of games already. Zero compelling reason whatsoever. Is there a trade-in program? No. Is there a trade-up program? No. For each and every game you used to own… you’ll get nothing from Sony. They scrapped the trade-in program for the American market. Heck, they even don’t do anything special, if I wanted to, I could download games onto my Sony PSP-3000. Heck, the PSP Go has a smaller screen, they didn’t add a second analog thumb pad or even allowed the battery to remain removable.

Back to trade-ins, I don’t recall a trade-in program in Japan either where it’s sold rather poorly there. I mean, real poor. And the sales here in the US and European markets aren’t that strong either. So listen up Sony… my 8 year old son came up with a good idea. I’m sure my son won’t even mind if you use it…

Start up a trade-in program and send people a self-addressed and stamped cardboard box capable of slotting in a few UMD’s, all made of recyclable cardboard and for each and every UMD that you receive, send out a download voucher for that game. Don’t forget to include tracking for packages.

Allow people to just send the UMD’s, don’t require the boxes or manuals. Something I tend to do every now-and-then is go through the manuals of the games – I’m not a fan of online manuals all too often. Something about the tactile feeling of having some paper in my hand. But on downloadable games, why not try to capitalize on the people that like to read manuals. Offer it as a service. They download a game, add $2.99 for a manual… slap on a stamp and send it along.

Don’t let Gamestop and other stores pick up the slack that you left in the wake of releasing a $250 dollar machine to replace a $169 dollar machine that had a bigger screen and can still play downloaded games. Offer some real incentives for once. $50 bucks? Pfft. Let’s think this is a good negotiation. Bring out a $100 system trade-in program alongside the aforementioned game trade-in program.

See? It’s that damn easy Sony. Get off your high-horse. You dropped the price of the Sony PlayStation3… what happened? 8000% increase in sales during a friggin’ recession and you bring out an overly expensive game system that’s being outsold in each and every location you sell Sony products, including Japan. Same place that you were gaining ground on the Nintendo DSi that’s been outselling you each month for almost 2 years straight.

And it’s no wonder the three highest viewed stories on Remove The Labels are either about the 5.02 firmware [ view here ] or the 5.03 firmware [ view here ] or where the Sony PSP Go was hacked… sorta [ view here ] which all point to how people want to basically screw you back Sony.

Get a clue, stop screwing over your existing and potential customers, cultivate what little brand loyalty is left and try what I said above, it just might work. Even an 8 year old sees what you’re doing wrong. At least you’re still continuing with a rumored PSP-4000 that will keep the UMD.