Sidecut Reports

As the tech-reporting world spins another batch of headlines that basically say “keep waiting to hear more about Verizon LTE service pricing,” it’s worthwhile to start guessing what might be the most attractive of Big Red’s 4G LTE pricing, device and plan options. While LTE-powered smartphones like the HTC Thunderbolt (hey wasn’t that supposed to be on the shelves already? Or should we not believe the so-called exclusive confirmations?) might look like a good all-in-one purchase (smartphone, hotspot), what about the possibility of a bundle that includes a LTE standalone mobile hotspot and a Verizon iPhone?

The latter would combine the world’s most popular smartphone platform with theoretically the fastest commercial network in the U.S.; is that more of a draw than an all-in-one Android combination? Especially if the Android phone in question is $250 or $299 as rumored and an iPhone can be had for $200? If the 4G pocketspots are under $100, isn’t the idea of a future-proof 4G connection (the mobile hotspot) and the best-supported smartphone (the iPhone) as compelling as an all-in-one 4G phone with Android?

While we admire the marketing machinery that lets Verizon score headlines for not really saying anything at all about pricing — other than that someday, sometime, it will actually offer LTE services for sale — maybe the coyness is because Verizon knows that once it releases an official set of prices and plans for any one of its forthcoming 10 LTE devices the permutations like the one above will start in real time.