Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam had some interesting comments to share with investors during a recent conference call. Among them was the admission that unlimited data plans just aren't feasible as you eventually "run out of gas" due to the limited amount of spectrum available.
Both Verizon and AT&T - the nation's top two wireless providers - have done away with unlimited data in recent years. Rivals T-Mobile and Sprint continue to offer unlimited options with Sprint going as far as to guarantee the service for life. That's a pretty bold offering, especially if McAdam's belief that bandwidth-hogging video will make it difficult for carriers to sustain unlimited plans proves true.
The CEO said Verizon never has and never will lead on price, promising not to stoop to Sprint's level with regard to an unlimited data plan for life. Instead, the executive touted his company's LTE offering as being about a year ahead of AT&T and three to four years ahead of T-Mobile and Sprint.
These sticking points could be used to brush off recent attempts by the smaller carriers to undercut the big boys in pricing. It's something that McAdam doesn't believe will lead to a price war, however.
Elsewhere, McAdam touched on BlackBerry going private and Microsoft purchasing Nokia. He hoped the BlackBerry deal would give the company a boost and was optimistic that Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia would lead to devices with quality software and hardware.