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Verizon gives up control with new Droid
With the release of the Motorola Android-based Droid yesterday, Verizon Wireless is aiming to replicate AT&T's iPhone phenomenon, 
namely a surge in subscriber additions and average revenue per user. Of course, that phenomenon comes with strings: It required Verizon Wireless to loosen its grip on the customer, allowing customers to directly purchase data applications from third parties, bypassing Verizon's own services altogether.
Instead of Verizon's own content stores, there's Google's Android market rife with thousands of apps that Verizon doesn't get paid for when a customer downloads them. Google Maps Navigation debuted on the Droid as a free app that gives turn-by-turn directions instead of Verizon's $10 VZ Navigator service. And Google Voice and other VoIP apps will be allowed, which threaten voice revenues. Moreover, Verizon is embracing WiFi connectivity on the Droid along with a larger number of devices, including the BlackBerry Storm2.
Indeed, Verizon is learning that you have to give up control to gain subscribers. The Droid will be one of a number of Android-based devices Verizon plans to entertain, but it will still continue to have a mix of devices running on the network that will enable it to monetize content services. If customers want the Droid, they will have to pay a minimum of $70 per month--at least $40 for a voice plan (450 minutes) and $30 for an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Pack enough of those on the network, and that's a nice bump in ARPU. Now we have to wait and see if this device becomes a true iPhone rival.--Lynnette
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | October 29, 2009 - 9:12pm
I have been a Verizon subscriber since 1999 and will shortly be switching to AT&T. My main complaint has and will always revolve around the control Verizon Wireless posses!
While it is nice to see them loosen the reigns to a degree, I am afraid this carrier will never offer the same freedoms as most GSM providers.
I understand AT&T does lock their phones which is essentially what Verizon does but AT&T offers one thing Verizon doesn't which allows their users so much more control over their experience, SIM CARDS!
GSM carriers may have a disadvantage in some aspects to CDMA but the same holds true for GSM over CDMA. The debate over which is better could go on for days.
Avoiding this debate I simply want to express the freedom GSM technology offers that Verizon never will. FREEDOM!
Yes, freedom. I can activate a new accout with AT&T on a basic plan with a basic phone. Get a BlackBerry that is unlocked from EBay or Craigslist and use all the phone without a data package. The bluetooth is unlocked so I can make my own ringtones using music I already have and use the parts I want and send them wirelessly to my phone at no charge as well as well as share pictures with my laptop at no extra charge. Sure, I can't use my internet but that is why I have a laptop with wifi. If I don't have wifi access, I don't need internet!
The ability to maximize a phones use at a minimal cost is what will allow AT&T to earn my business!
Aside from that, it looks like this Droid 2 phone will kill the iPhone!
Posted by Anonymous | October 29, 2009 - 9:51pm
I absolutely agree with the above post.. VZ doesn't get it and is so stuck in their telco monopoly past that they never will. VZ wireless is owned by 2 big Dinos and will never "get" it with regards to creativity and the idea of open systems being inherently better. (Gee - didn't the IBM PC prove that, about 25 years ago??!!)
Only disagreement I have is that Apple is just way too nimble to be caught by these clods. iphone has a life of its own and will not be killed by android... in fact, android will allow much more openness in the wireless space and a bigger market means even more potential sales for Apple in the long run (rising tide floats all boats)
Posted by Anonymous | October 30, 2009 - 11:28am
Sim cards are not a fix of any kind. I have had 3 different Verizon Wireless cell phones and 2 different Verizon Wireless PDA Smartphones. I have been very easily been able to add my own ringtones to every one of these so-called "locked" phones with a minimal amount of research. I have used music and sound effects on my own computer and put them in the phones, and it's actually gotten easier to do so with recent phones. I can send a short mp3 to my current phone as an email attachment to mynumber@vzwpix.com, and when the message comes into the phone (as long as the total msg size is under 300k) I can save the attached file as a ringtone. I also currently use one of my PDA's without VZW service, connecting to free Wi-Fi wherever I go.
Sim cards are locked in ways that cannot be breached. Anything you think you can do with an AT&T phone, I can do with a VZW phone.
Make your cellular buying decisions based on cost, features and service. Research how to do the other things online and you will have it all.
Posted by Anonymous | October 30, 2009 - 4:38pm
the Droid does not eat data because Google designed the Android OS to retrieve all data from Google's cache. No fresh content. It will all be cached. So much for current weather and news, huh? I am sticking with WinMo where the data always come straight from the source instead of some cache.
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