Verizon can’t wait for LTE iPhone




LTE is being overly pushed. It reminds me of alternative fuel and a bunch of E85 operators going bankrupt because customers just didn’t find the sacrifices for it beneficial, overall, to buy SUVs that use it more than small sedans, of which very few affordable economy cars were/are equipped for alternative fuel. That kind of represents the landscape today. Verizon is seeking to deploy a widescale alternative fuel strategy buy overcharging for the vehicles and the gas. While LTE may be cost efficient for Verizon, it isn’t an OPPORTUNITY cost efficient choice for customers. To buy into LTE only to continue paying Verizon’s very expensive rates even though you’d be using Verizon’s more cost efficient LTE network, you have to pay a very high amount for what so far have been VERY crappy phones and added paranoia justified by very real poor battery life. These phones are so bad in everyday use, they make me miss my Sanyo feature phone that I used for nearly 3 years until 2006 when I bought my first smartphone. I don’t ever remember even having to charge that phone. I know that I did plug it up, but it wasn’t every day and hardly ever at all.

To explore Verizon’s LTE endeavor (which does not deserve the 4G label no matter if the ITU b*tched up and relented), I tested the Droid Bionic for two weeks when my wife and I first left Sprint for Verizon, but I eventually settled on the 32GB iPhone 4 before my introductory 14 day period expired. Recently, due to what seemed to be a “better” crop of LTE devices, I decided to test the Droid Razr for two weeks (mid November), HTC Rezound (early December) for two weeks and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for two weeks (just returned it last week). No matter the device, LTE just isn’t an efficient value proposition for the CUSTOMER. I don’t see Verizon passing on the efficiency it is experiencing from LTE it back to the customer in the form of reduced monthly costs and definitely not in better utilization of the device’s battery. Other than fast data speeds, it’s nothing but a Ferrari at a museum, that if always running, causes more problems FOR THE USER than it solves.

“But it also will help with the cost efficiency within Wireless, because every time we add a customer to LTE it is a much more efficient and cost effective network than the 3G network.”

Was this statement meant to make overly charged 3G users feel better and more interested in buying an even more expensive device than a new, less expensive 3G device? I don’t think Verizon is applying this statement from a consumer’s perspective, only from a capitalist’s perspective. Sure, I will accept that LTE will be more cost effective than 3G for carriers to operate, but why isn’t that already being passed on in savings to LTE users? Outside of having to compensate for the lack of talent in the software programming for its LTE IP framework, it’s costing Verizon no more to allow LTE users 4GB of data than it is for it to deliver text messages. The damage of sunk costs is done in deploying 3G and costs should have already been coming down in equipment upgrades and maintenance since it was fully deployed, but costs have only increased while usage has only been whittled down for each new user. That reads BAD MANAGEMENT and good marketing propaganda to keep people flocking to them and paying higher costs. 4 months in, I’m very sorry that I bought Verizon’s crap.

As much as I am feenin’ for a more aesthetically appealing Windows Phone on Verizon, any that come with LTE will be ignored. With the Droid Bionic, Droid Razr, Rezound, and Galaxy Nexus, I CONSTANTLY had to reach for a charger. To top it off, each of those phones was of unique, poor build quality. Three and half years ago, if these devices were released, I’d have stuck with the original HTC Touch that I chose over switching to ATT just to be able to get the first iPhone. I don’t blame Verizon for these phones’ lack of quality, but for what Verizon offers (just “pipes”), it’s charging too damn much in terms of dollars and common sense for admission for the discerning users to even want to be on LTE. In doing my testing and making a final decision to buy and KEEP a device, I factor in the build quality of the devices, the efficiency of the carrier’s network in terms of how it affects the user experience, the GREATER inefficiency that LTE CREATES in the form of horrible battery life, and the expensive up front and recurring costs. For the sake of argument in comparing devices released in the last year, the 3G-equipped HTC Trophy’s full retail is $429.99, only $130 more than the CONTRACT cost of the newer LTE devices (which full retail up to $650 or more), and it lasts up to 4 times as long with the same amount of use with little to no drop off in being able to at least use the internet. I don’t know about any other Verizon user, but in my experience, LTE is only efficient for VERIZON so far, NOT for its users. In my four months with Verizon, the thrill of having the “most reliable network” is practically gone. Unless Verizon lowers up front and recurring costs to LTE subscribing customers to reflect that cost efficiency it claims exists in trying to lure users to more expensive devices (or allows truly unlimited data without charging extra to use a device as a mobile hotspot — why do people have to pay extra for that again?), I will never buy an LTE device from it and will not be renewing my contract should Sprint actually hit a home run with or without LightSquared. Or, I may even look at ATT come contract expiration time (Sept 2013 for me *sigh*). The competing operators’ policies and pricing will affect that war, but it will be a few years before I see the real benefit. Latency is still low on my iPhone and I have no trouble loading web pages. There is no NEED as a user for anyone to rush over to LTE. Verizon has to provide a better value proposition than saying to the world “well, it’s cost efficient for us, so that should be enough” while not addressing how low the value proposition is vs. the opportunity cost to the customer (the only “us” that counts). When it comes to “us,” it’s not enough. Verizon’s LTE game is a losing proposition. Regular old E87 octane (3G) will do me just fine.

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Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/verizon-cant-wait-for-lte-iphone/66235

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