First-order effects

• The November 17 report has executives floating a second pricing axis — connection speed alongside volume — which would mean 4G customers face a menu of price points rather than a single rate tied only to gigabytes.
• Because the speed-based structure is still at the exploratory stage per the company's own framing, nothing changes for subscribers yet, but it signals where Verizon intends to take pricing once its 4G network scales.

Second-order effects

• Rival carriers running their own 4G buildouts would come under pressure to match any speed-tiered structure, since a competitor charging premiums for faster transfers could turn network quality into a direct revenue advantage.
• If speed becomes billable, handset and application developers gain an incentive to optimize for the cheapest service tier, shifting product design decisions around Verizon's rate card.

Third-order effects

• Pricing evolving from flat plans to volume tiers to volume-plus-speed would make carrier billing multi-dimensional, letting operators monetize network upgrades directly instead of absorbing them as cost.
• Charging more for faster wireless transfers edges toward prioritization of traffic, a structure likely to keep fueling the debate over whether carriers should be able to sell differentiated access.