| Wait and see? Wait and see till you are out of business.
I would rather buy an unlocked phone and go with the best price for service.
I think your phone subsidies are a fraud. |
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 IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA
 ·Comcast
 ·Verizon Broadban..
| Subsidies are good Consumers prefer subsidies, look at all the unsold iPhones with Cricket.
If it weren't for the subsidy, I could not afford an iPhone. And I had to use the VZW device financing offer to buy my iPad mini.
As for MVNOs, I would rather do business with a carrier that owns and controls the network. Has VZ, AT&T, Sprint, US Cellular, or t-mobile gone out of business in the ten years that cell phones become mainstream, the answer is no.
Have MVNOs gone under, yes. And the carriers that own the networks can kick an MVNO to the curb without warning and that $649 unsubsidized iPhone becomes an overpriced paperweight.
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I've experienced ImOn (when they were McLeod USA), Mediacom, Comcast, and Time Warner and I currently have DirecTV. They are much better than broadcast TV.
I have not and will not cut the cord. |
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| Consumers prefer having it now, which isn't quite subsidies. Look at what T-Mobile is doing. That's another way for consumers to have it now and still pay for the phone. If we stop paying these stupid prices for these gadgets, maybe their price will go down as well? |
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 jazzy_
join:2004-01-27
Charleston, SC | if it were an option Perhaps if they had phone plans with lower monthly costs for people that bring their own some would use it. But as it is you are better off getting your phone subsidized since they gouge you no matter what. |
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IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA | reply to jjeffeory
Re: Subsidies are good Another barrier is incompatible networks. VZ and Sprint are CDMA/LTE while AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM. So an unlocked phone is no good as they are incompatible with each other's networks. And they operate on different frequencies. |
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| They'll still force you to buy a Verizon branded phone Won't be worth it... they'll still force you to buy a Verizon branded phone, doubt they would let you bring a phone and pop a Verizon LTE sim in it, so you'll be paying their $600 retail price instead of getting a phone directly from something like the Google Play store... |
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Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·Mediacom
·T-Mobile US
| reply to IowaCowboy
Re: Subsidies are good financing != (does not equal) affordability.
It makes it easier to obtain expensive device earlier for people with less expendable income. But if people struggle to obtain something even for under $600, maybe they should not be buying expensive gadgets in the first place?
Thats why our economy is in trouble because many people borrow to the hilt whether its for cars, mortgage, student loans. Today interest rates on savings account are useless. Stocks and bonds don't offer the same liquidity and guarantee against loss as fixed assets such as cash. |
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| reply to Billmnfl
Re: Wait and see? Hey Lowell, doesnt VZwireless have their own CEO? Lets talk about FiOS expansion.... |
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| reply to Billmnfl
said by Billmnfl:Wait and see till you are out of business.
I would rather buy an unlocked phone and go with the best price for service.
I think your phone subsidies are a fraud.
Not fraud. I like them just fine. No way I'd pay $600 for a phone. I paid $50 for my phone. It would have been $450 full price. I'll take the $50 and a 2 year contract I have no intention on breaking anyway.
Verizon going out of business? Try looking at their quarterly repots. they have been gaining more customers then the other 3 COMBINED and have the lowest churn in the industry.
Also no such thing a truly unlocked phone. Since Verizon and Sprint still use CDMA for calls and texting and at&t and T-mobile still use GSM who makes this magical unlocked GSM/CDMA device that works on EVRY frequency used by the 4 major carriers? Heck you can even use Sprint device on Verizon and vise verse even though both use CDMA because they use different frequencies. |
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coma9
join:2013-02-05
Lehi, UT | Bloatware? I wonder if his phone is loaded with bloatware and Verizon garbage software.... or did he root and throw a custom rom on his phone like me? |
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| reply to lakerfan82
Re: They'll still force you to buy a Verizon branded phone said by lakerfan82:Won't be worth it... they'll still force you to buy a Verizon branded phone, yeah and?.............
doubt they would let you bring a phone and pop a Verizon LTE sim in it, |
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| reply to coma9
Re: Bloatware? said by coma9:I wonder if his phone is loaded with bloatware and Verizon garbage software.... or did he root and throw a custom rom on his phone like me?
Hope your phone never breaks because you violated your warranty. |
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| reply to hey hey hey
Re: They'll still force you to buy a Verizon branded phone Iphone 5 does, no reason to think others can't or won't. VoLTE will support SMS and voice late 2013. Google Voice too. |
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IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA | reply to chgo_man99
Re: Subsidies are good The iPad Mini was $559 as I bought the one with 4G in it + 32 GB of memory.
I live on a tight budget but I have money for the necessities and some luxuries (like pay TV and Internet). My rent and utilities are paid each month. |
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Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
 ·MegaPath
| reply to hey hey hey
Re: Wait and see? Sprint had huge amounts of money too at one point and look at them. The bigger you are the harder you fall and all that goes up- must come down. Customers/Consumers will stop paying for the high fees/prices that VZW and AT&T want (and now with Sprint) and will move to MVNOs and other contract free services such as with T-Mobile. Have you seen that contract free subscriber rates are actually going UP and contract customer counts are coming down? Customers are tired of the contracts, tired of the credit issues and BS and are looking for true options. VZW and AT&T will see it or will pay for it later.
BTW- the BB Storm 2 was a GSM/CDMA phone and could be used on TMO and AT&T along with CDMA networks. It was a world phone. VZ just didn't want you unlocking it to take else where. And actually Sprint will refuse to use a VZW phone and VZW will refuse to use a Sprint device. You can however take those devices to other budget carriers that are CDMA - Revol/Metro and they'll flash/unlock them and use 'em. |
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Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
·MegaPath
| reply to IowaCowboy
Re: Subsidies are good And again- if you could NOT fiance the iPad you could not buy it- meaning you did a "rent to own" option if you will. The point is; this is only going to cause more problems in the long run. It did not help you. It only spread those payments out. You could have still paid for it by saving.
But as we all know- VZW can do no wrong with you as you are their poster child. |
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Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
·MegaPath
| reply to IowaCowboy
I can also show you companies with piles of iPhones that are subsided and are STILL sitting on those same devices. Look at Sprint for one.
And you'd only rather do business with the actual network because you want the "bling" that they offer- only a brand and nothing more. I bet I actually pay LESS than you over a month than what you pay to VZW and have more- by not having their brand name.
And do you realize when the last MVNO went out of business???? (FYI- Page Plus Ceullar- is the oldest VZW MVNO and they're still around). And Cricket/Leap Wireless is NOT a full MVNO- they have their own network and ROAM onto VZW,Spent and Revol. |
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Reviews:
 ·ooma
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FiOS
| reply to Billmnfl
Re: Wait and see? said by Billmnfl:Wait and see till you are out of business.
I would rather buy an unlocked phone and go with the best price for service.
I think your phone subsidies are a fraud.
Cellcos telling manufacturers what to charge for handsets is the BIGGER fraud.. those price gouging high prices for the phones upfront are the BAIT to lure customers into making a deal with the devil cellcos for 24 month contracts. Seriously.. when did you see handsets go from $99 all the way upto $600 and more until the Iphone & Android handsets? Metro PCS revealed how low handset prices for an entry level android phone could go to $40 versus $300+. This only adds to the anti-competitive dysfunctional marketplace.
BTW, this is talking about mainstream mass produced handsets.. not the early analog days where you had to be a rich fat cat or criminal (drug dealer) to afford analog service pricing.
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IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA | reply to TBusiness
Re: Subsidies are good I financed the iPad with Verizon Wireless. I still had to pass a credit check and while I might have credit issues in the past, I have good credit with VZW (since I pay them on time each month). |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to IowaCowboy
said by IowaCowboy:If it weren't for the subsidy, I could not afford an iPhone. Rent to own companies really want people like you.
Consider the price for a subsidized 32gig iPhone, $299 and $100 a month. Over the course of two years you have paid $2700. Now consider a phone you buy, $750 at Apple, $45 a month with Straight Talk and over two years you have spent $1830. Your two year, can't afford the phone, just cost you an additional $870, the cost of a new phone, again. You have effectively paid for two phones.
Better to save your money for a few months, buy the phone outright, and then go with a prepaid plan. |
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