Research in Motion Ltd's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry smart phones and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) wireless devices may benefit from AT&T Inc's (NYSE:T) newly announced plan to cut out unlimited data plans, according to a MarketWatch report.
According to analysts, cheaper offerings might bring in more customers for Research in Motion and Motorola, particularity Research in Motion's popular BlackBerry devices, which typically consume fewer data bandwidth than rival Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones.
Evidence supporting such predictions can already be seen from the 4% boost in shares Research in Motion received in earlier trading Wednesday at $61.50, as well as for Motorola shares, which were up over 1.4% at $6.80.
AT&T announced plans to begin its new data pricing plans for smart phones before the opening bell Wednesday morning, which will reportedly include a new $15-per-month service and a $25-per-month service, allowing users to use 2 gigabytes of data per month.
The carrier's $30-per-month unlimited plan will be phased out as AT&T increases its efforts to more effectively handle runaway data usage from Apple iPhones, which are exclusively carried by AT&T in the U.S.
Travis McCourt of Morgan Keegan wrote in a note to clients: "We expect other wireless carriers to follow suit, and for this new pricing to substantially increase adoption of smart phones as the 'data pricing' hurdle has just been cut by 50%."
Research in Motion released a company statement Wednesday as well, citing a Consumer Reports survey that found that BlackBerry users consume about 54 megabytes of monthly data, which would allow most BlackBerry users to qualify for AT&T's $15-per-month plan.
Shares of Research in Motion are trading up 4.78% Wednesday afternoon at $61.85, as are shares of AT&T, which are up 1.85% at $24.78.
