VZW intros metered data plans with ad hoc iPad launch

There was some truth to the rumors that Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ, NYSE:VOD) would start offering an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) device, though it’s not exactly the deal people were expecting. Rather than the iPhone, VZW will sell the iPad, and instead of providing a fully integrated 3G connection by embedding CDMA into the tablet, VZW and Apple are pairing the Wi-Fi-only version of the iPad with Novatel’s (NASDAQ:NVTL) MiFi 2220 mobile broadband router. That setup isn’t exactly revolutionary--operators worldwide have been cross-selling Apple devices with their 3G and 4G routers since they became available. What’s most interesting about VZW’s iPad launch though is the data plan pricing.

Verizon is experimenting with its metered pricing for the first time, selling a plan that allows customers to pay for data by the gigabyte. The lowest price plan gives customers 1 GB for $20 a month with a $20 charge for each gigabyte of overage. If customers opt for more data up front, the prices drop further. Three GBs cost $35 a month, and a 5 GB plan costs $50, but the price for each gigabyte of overage on both plans falls to $10. Verizon essentially has set a metered price on data between $10 and $20 a gigabyte.

Those plans stand in sharp contrast to its smartphone plans, which for now offer unlimited data, and its mobile broadband access plans, which have firm caps and stiff penalties for overage. A customer buying a MiFi service independently and bringing their own iPad along would pay significantly more under VZW’s current rate plans: $40 a month for a measly 250 MB or $60 a month for 5 GB. Although the $60 plan might seem comparable to the $50 iPad plan, there’s a huge difference in overage charges. Rather than pay $10 a gig, a mobile broadband customer using the same device would pay $50 for each additional gigabyte over the monthly 5 GB allotment. In short, Verizon is punishing mobile broadband customer who exceed their monthly caps, while--if not rewarding—definitely not discouraging iPad-MiFi customers who do the same.

The disparity between the two plans is sure to anger a lot of mobile broadband customer, which makes it very likely that this is just Verizon’s initial foray into metered pricing before it overhauls all of its mobile broadband and even smartphone plans. What may particularly irk people is that the MiFi will support multiple devices through its WiFi radio, not just the iPad. So unless VZW plans on locking the MiFi only to the iPad, customers who take the deal will be able to use the device to connect their laptops, gaming consoles and any number of Wi-Fi embed consumer electronics just like customers who sign up for the MiFi service as mobile broadband customers. The iPad customers will just be paying far cheaper rates.

T-Mobile (NYSE:DT) is also experimenting with metered data, but on the smartphone and feature phone rather than the broadband router. While keeping its postpaid smartphones plans unlimited, starting next week T-Mobile would bundle in some hefty data packages into its prepaid plans. Its two unlimited talk and text plans will have come with two options for data: 2G for $70 a month and 100 MB for $50 a month. Customers can also purchase a 1500 minute/text plan which includes 30 MB of data for $30.

T-Mobile provided no details about how customers would be charged or could pay for additional data beyond those caps, but it did introduce a $1.50 day pass, which would presumably allow customers to keep on surfing once their monthly allotments dried up. T-Mobile has traditionally offered limited data offerings over prepaid so this could be a sign that it plans to scale smartphone services down to the prepaid segment, much like regional competitors Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP) and MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS) have done.

VZW and T-Mobile aren’t alone in tinkering with new billing models. Boost Mobile today announced its new charging concept designed to encourage customer loyalty and on-time payments: shrinkage. Customers who sign up for Boost’s $50 all-inclusive unlimited plan of its $60 BlackBerry unlimited plan will be able to shave $5 increments off their bill every 6 months as long as they maintain the service and make their payments on time. The discounts stop at $15, but a Boost unlimited customer could drop his or her plan fee down to $35 after 18 months.

This is obviously Boost’s--and Sprint’s (NYSE:S)--answer to the high-churn rates all operators are seeing on their prepaid plans. Prepaid has become much more important to Sprint than to its larger competitors, but its reliance on prepaid has also contributed to much higher churn as customers unhindered by a contract shop around for the best deal. If Boost were to lock in millions of unlimited customers through incentives, it could keep those customer loss rates down, offsetting high customer acquisition costs. But the more successful the program, the more its average revenue per customer may suffer.