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Tariffs constitute important decision making parameters in the marketing mix of mobile phone companies. Flat rates, as an example of such a pricing model, are decoupling the customers' usage and the generated revenue. This leads to commercial risks for telecommunication providers. The current price level for a data flat rate in conjunction with current technologies and usage patterns leads to high production costs and negative contribution margins. As an alternative concept, fair use flat rates lead to a limitation of use while also satisfying the typical customer usage patterns. Therefore, they are preferable to traditional flat rates. New production technologies such as LTE will not change this situation since they do not make customers more willing to pay. Instead, the motivation for the introduction of LTE is based on an improved cost situation for the telecommunication provider.

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