Nokia World: Data caps here to stay

Data prices will continue to be adjusted, says Vodafone chief

Data caps are here to stay and will only increase in the future, according to Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao speaking at Nokia World 2010 in London.

Networks have already started to introduce data caps, and data pricing "has to adjust", he explained.

"North to south, rich to poor, consumer to business, everyone must be thought of as a data customer," said Colao.

"The principle here must be that, a bit like motorways or hotels, every class of service needs to have its own price, and customers must be able to pay for the level of service they want."

Pricing needs to be adjusted to reflect use and load, and the world is approaching the end of the free culture, according to Colao.

Mobile phone use has changed over the past decade, and people now receive more messages and emails on mobile devices than on traditional computers.

Network operators can make a number of changes to enhance the customer experience, including providing high-speed and high bandwidth services, but they have a responsibility to safeguard privacy and provide security for customers.

Colao said that, over a typical one-month period, a third of Vodafone customers use their phones to browse the internet, 25 per cent play games, 20 per cent browse email, 15 per visit social networking sites, 11 per cent use maps and 30 per cent use their devices for business purposes.

Vodafone will be hoping that its relationship with Nokia continues to flourish with the imminent N8 smartphone rollout.