The required data plans for the Rogue are different from the $29.99 unlimited-data plan for smartphones, which isn't available on the new phone. Instead, for $9.99, Rogue users will get 25MB of data usage per month, and for $19.99 they will get 75MB. The plans were designed specifically for Enhanced Multimedia Phones, which consumers will want to use for data but not as heavily as smartphones, which have push e-mail and downloadable third-party applications, said Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney. Based on the Rogue's features and what Verizon has learned about its subscribers' data use, the carrier believes these plans will be adequate, she said.

"In the future, you're going to see more and more feature-rich phones that will come with the requirement of a data plan," Raney said. "The bulk of our phones still offer the $1.99 per-megabyte option."

Verizon has also replaced its $15 monthly VCast VPak plan, which included access to the carrier's video offerings as well as unlimited data, with the $10 VCast Video plan, which just includes unlimited video. Existing customers of VCast VPak will get to keep that plan, Raney said.

The introduction of the new plans echoes a earlier this year by Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell McAdam. Asked about third-party VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) applications on mobile phones, McAdam suggested such applications wouldn't hurt carriers. "We have moved away from unlimited data plans," McAdam said. "The excitement of an over-the-top application like (Skype) in an unlimited environment means one thing to a customer. In an environment where you're paying for every byte, that means something totally different." McAdam said.

Other mobile operators are likely to watch how Verizon's Enhanced Multimedia Phones and mandatory data plans fare and then emulate them, said analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates.