AT&T CEO revisits usage-based 3G pricing

On March 2, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson reiterated the carrier's plans to move toward more usage-based pricing in the future as AT&T seeks to rein in costs resulting from the enormous traffic surge on its 3G network.

Speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference, Stephenson didn't lay out any specifics on what kind of tiered or metered pricing AT&T will eventually use, though he said that some form of new pricing mechanism must be put in place to ensure that those that consume the most network resources bear more of the costs. Though AT&T's smartphone data plans use static pricing and its mobile broadband access services rely on data caps, Stephenson said AT&T is already exploring new pricing models in the emerging devices category. Pricing for eBook readers, tablets like the Apple iPad and other non-phone form-factor devices are all being launched without the traditional monthly service plan, relying on event-based pricing and even prepaid models.