Wireless Expense Management Blog

Love it or hate it, Apple’s iPad is definitely a game changer in the realm of corporate productivity. With dozens of business-friendly apps, and the flexibility and security of the iOS platform, iPads are an IT executives’ dream come true.

That is, until they get the bill.

With data overcharges in double digits per kb, one can imagine the level of bill shock iPad-toting employees can generate for an unsuspecting budget.

Due to Verizon’s October 28th release of the iPad, more of our client’s have shown interest in integrating these ultra-cool devices to their mobility program (in fact, we are already managing these devices for some clients). Yet, most are unclear on the level of impact these devices will have on their wireless costs. Both AT&T and Verizon offer different usage plans – which depending on your organization’s level of usage, should have some influence as to which carrier you decide to go with.

Below you will see a breakdown of the cost structures for each carrier:

Verizon Data Rates

AT&T Data Rates

As you can see, both pricing structures are quite different. Where Verizon will charge a monthly over-use charge from $10-$20 depending on your usage plan, AT&T requires an additional plan to be purchased for the month. From AT&T’s website:

“If you exceed the amount of data on your plan, you may immediately purchase an additional data plan or wait until the current plan automatically renews at the end of the 30-day period. Plans expire when you have used all the data included in your plan, or in 30 days, whichever occurs first.”

For benchmarking purposes, you should note that our average client users only use about 1GB per month, or less. On the other hand, we’ve managed some hyper-active users, with iPad data usage topping 20GB a month.

A Last Word For 4G

With both Verizon and AT&T scheduled to roll out 4G services in early 2011, you can expect data usage to increase in proportion to connectivity speed. Faster streaming video, video conferencing, GPS navigation and maps, and other document downloads will mean more productivity. But it will also mean significantly more data usage.

Although it is unknown whether or not the carriers plan on offering adjusted data plans, you should expect some changes for both networks in the coming months.