That bill increase, reported in third-quarter results on Thursday, helped Verizon Wireless to reach record profitability of 32% for the quarter. Total revenues were $19 billion, up 7% from the third quarter of 2011.

While investors may cheer, some average customers are not. They, like some analysts, wonder if the sky's the limit on monthly service fees.

"It's totally ridiculous that my family pays $150 a month for wireless," said one Verizon customer with three cellphones on his account who contacted Computerworld and asked not to be named. An insurance executive, he said wireless carrier service fees need to be regulated the same way states regulate insurance rates.

While some gripe about wireless service costs, the quarterly numbers show that new smartphones and Verizon's faster LTE network, now in 419 cities, are popular. Smartphones and tablets over wireless allow customers can do things that a few years ago were only possible on a stationary computer or multiple devices. Carriers and industry supporters argue these new capabilities help justify the higher monthly cost.

initially drew public criticism, but Verizon said the plan gives families and workgroups the flexibility to put up to 10 and other devices on a single account to share data and receive free voice and text. The plan requires the purchase of a monthly allocation of data, in 2 GB increments, on top of a monthly fee for each device.