Five key price trends are driving LTE 4G services worldwide

ENGLAND: All MNOs offering LTE 4G services need to be aware of the key five tariff trends identified by TCL and decide which pricing strategy to adopt when marketing their 4G service.

The latest edition of the unique TCL Global LTE Pricing Tariff Tracker subscription service, which covers the period for the 3rd Quarter of 2014, highlights the five new pricing trends being introduced by MNOs around the world as the market for high speed LTE 4G services begins to reach maturity.

The latest edition of the TCL Global LTE Pricing Tariff Tracker subscription service includes LTE 4G pricing from more MNOs than ever before. It now has pricing from 151 MNOs in 80 countries. The 3rd quarter 2014 edition includes pricing for recently launched LTE 4G services from the two Chinese operator China Telecom, China Unicom and Algerie Telecom, in the TCL Global LTE Pricing Tariff Tracker creating a unique guide to LTE 4G deployments worldwide.

From the LTE 4G pricing shown in the 3rd Quarter of 2014, TCL has been able to identify the following five key tariff trends:

* The continued development of new Pre Pay LTE 4G pricing – New Pre Pay LTE 4G services are being introduced. Everything Everywhere (EE) in the UK has introduced a Pre Pay EE 4G product for GBP £1 (Euro 1.27) per week coming in two variations either 25 minutes and 50 SMS or 100 MB, 10 minutes and 10 SMS. 25 minutes plus 50 SMS, or 100MB of data plus 10 minutes plus 10 texts. Also, Vodafone (UK) has also modified its Pre Pay 4G Freedom Freebie Packs, including the following tariffs:

* The introduction of new entry level LTE 4G plans – Lower LTE 4G entry level pricing is being introduced. 3 (Denmark) offers an entry level rate of DK 79 (Euro 10.61 per month for 300 MB of data, 60 minutes and unlimited SMS/MMS in the 3 network. In Lebanon the two MNOs (Alfa and Touch) both offer an entry-level tariff of 500 MB per month for $11 (Euro 8.38) per month.

* The introduction of new “add on” LTE 4G services – Selected MNOs are offering a low cost add-on option for LTE 4G access. Examples include TIM (Italy) 4G Internet Plus, with LTE 4G speed available and for smartphone PC and tablet users for Euro 5 per month including 200 GB of TIM Cloud and Post Luxembourg with its Speed Boost available for smartphones, sticks and tablets for Euro 10 per month.

* The introduction of LTE 4G access across all plans – Selected MNOs are now introducing LTE 4G services as standard across all plans, with Belgacom (now called Proximus - Belgium) offering LTE 4G services across all Mobile Data plans, with speeds varying according to price point.

* An increase in LTE 4G data allowances – MNOs are increasing their data allowances in selected markets. Touch (Lebanon) has introduced a 1.5 GB data allowance (increased from 700 MB) for $19 per month and a top of the range 60 GB data allowance (increased from 30 GB) for $149 per month.