How’s this for a paradox? ‘Bargain’ pre-paid data pricing that actually costs more

(This story is part of Connected Planet’s Mobile Data Paradox microsite – an ongoing collection of features, blogs and opinions on the key question facing mobile operators today: how do you make a business of 4G and mobile data?

It all leads up to the 4G Salon event at our upcoming Connected Planet Virtual Industry Forum. Register now to join us at this exciting, interactive event.)
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We’ve called our new microsite the 4G or mobile data “paradox” for good reason. Many aspects of this market simply don’t make sense at first glance, most unfortunately for mobile operators.

Here’s yet another: reports today that Verizon Wireless is planning a new tier of mobile data service, offering users 5 Gb per $80 per month, on a prepaid basis.

Prepaid is typically the province of bargain-hunters, but Verizon appears to be trying to play both ends, saying its new deal – while costing more – should appeal to users that are both “contract-phobic” while also wanting to consume large amounts of data, with a pre-paid safety net.

The problem is, such users might prefer to opt to some of the “real” value deals likely to come from the prepaid market, such as the $40 per month unlimited mobile data plan unveiled by Virgin Mobile just yesterday (T-Mobile already offers that same 5 Gb cap for half the price, $40 per month prepaid).

While it’s easy to give Verizon a hard time about its pricing here (end users commenting on the plan at BroadbandReports.com basically called it a “horrible joke”), the truth is there’s going to be plenty of experimentation with pricing on mobile data before any carrier figures it out. And that means from time to time we’re likely to see attempts, perhaps like this one, that seem to defy logic.