U.S. wireless carriers are working on ways to keep their customers paying up for something they do less, make phone calls. The change for consumer behavior, the amount of time spent making old-fashioned voice calls has fallen every year since Apple's iPhone. The rub for carriers is that voice billings still account for about two-thirds of what they charge cellphone customers every month.
To make sure monthly billings don't follow usage downhill, carriers expect to get rid of plans that let contract subscribers buy only the number of minutes they need and replace them with a flat rate covering unlimited calls. Carriers say a move to unlimited-only calling plans would simplify what can be a confusing array of options. But it also would keep a cash cow healthy by depriving customers of the option to trade down to cheaper plans, even as their phone use drops as they spend more time texting and using Internet-based calling services.
Carriers are wrestling with a generational shift in the relationship between their customers and the devices they sell. Phone calls simply are no longer the primary reason people buy mobile phones. The shift is so pronounced that AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said at an investor conference Friday that he wouldn't be surprised if some carrier pops up in the next two years with cellphone plans that cover only data, no voice.
