The new, tiered data pricing models that AT&T and Verizon Wireless introduced in the recent past have reportedly drawn the ire of a number of customers, largely because of the fact that these data plans have drastically lowered the caps on the amount of data that customers can use in a particular month.

Under the tiered pricing model that AT&T introduced in June – later followed by Verizon -, the $30 unlimited data plans were eliminated for new customers. In their place, AT&T introduced a $25 plan for 2GB data and $15 plan for 200MB data.

In an interview, AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel told CNet that the carrier has found that customers like the usage-based billing and like the fact that choices are available in data plans – more so as these plans actually help them cut down their costs.

However, according to a Sanford Bernstein study, despite the lower price points of the new data plans introduced by AT&T and Verizon, customers would rather have unlimited data plans, for which they appear to be quite willing to pay more – in fact, even overpay.

Noting that “Unlimited data plans could become a major source of differentiation, attracting customers and giving still-unlimited carriers a subscribership boost,” Sanford Bernstein’s equities analyst, Craig Moffett, added: “At the same time, however, carriers who maintain unlimited pricing in the face of AT&T's move to usage-based pricing could self-select to the heaviest users, impairing future profitability.”