First, a few quick comments on the Verizon "More Everything" moves. The one word I'd use to describe it is "rightsizing". Verizon has held the "premium price for premium network" mantra for some time. But this story has started to look dated, as rival networks have started catching up (and in some cases exceed) and the "Verizon premium" has widened, given recent competitor pricing actions. Plus, if you look at porting ratios and churn rates, T-Mobile's moves, which had almost surgically targeted AT&T, were just starting to affect Verizon, so some action was needed.  

The "network strengthening" piece is also an important component of the announcement, since Verizon needed to boost capacity in certain markets before opening up the data spigot. Verizon has been pretty careful to protect its margins, however. I believe the vast majority of "Share Everything" subscribers will keep their existing plan rather than opt for a $10 discount, and will be a little less likely to shop around. The additional bennies of free international text and 25 GB of cloud storage look attractive to customers, but cost Verizon practically nothing to provide.

More broadly, the pricing moves we've seen of late reflect what I call the "new reality" of the wireless industry, centered around five themes:

1. Changes in the Device Ownership Model are Having a Major Effect. A gradual weaning off the handset subsidy model means that there's less robbing Peter to pay Paul. If operators have a less onerous obligation on the equipment side, they can be more creative with respect to service pricing and other mechanisms to take share or increase retention. T-Mobile's ETF deal is a great example. Subscriber acquisition costs are just coming from a different "bucket".    


2. Data is the new currency. There will not be a price war in wireless. Do not expect the average bill of a U.S. wireless subscriber or family to change markedly over the next several years. Users with LTE devices consume 30-50% more data than on 3G, and they are looking to connect more devices to the network. Price competition will revolve around how much data to give subscribers, rather than wholesale price reductions.        
3. We are starting to see the economic benefits of LTE. As a higher percentage of devices and traffic moves to LTE, the operators are able to offer more data without significantly impacting margins. Just how much data, going forward, will be largely governed by spectrum position and level of investment in infrastructure. Despite all the "wireless duopoly" crowing at the FCC/DOJ, AT&T and Verizon still have less spectrum than the average European wireless operator.         

• the change in the equipment procurement/ownership model
• operator's willingness to "buy customers"
• relative parity on handset selection
• the fact that more handsets work on multiple bands, and the slow erosion of the legacy CDMA/GSM divide, making it easier to switch operators