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Comments on news posted 2013-04-12 08:42:15: On the heels of their new, if rather unspectacular prepaid pricing last February, Verizon is preparing a new prepaid offering this year that aims at the bottom of the barrel. ..

brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

brianiscool

Member

Bad Plan

I use 2000 minutes a month 1000 text messages and 1GB of data a month for $49 a month.

Bamafan2277
Premium Member
join:2008-09-20
Jeffersonville, IN

Bamafan2277

Premium Member

Re: Bad Plan

For you it may be a bad plan but for many others it is a good deal. I use less than 450 minutes, under 500 text and about 2G of data and pay $88 a month to Verizion after my company discount. I would gladly pay $35 a month for what I use currently
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: Bad Plan

Thats laughable. For PPC (same coverage and you CAN use smartphones) for $29 you get 1200min, 3000 texts/MMS and 250MB of data. They even have lower plans if you use less.... And now talk for Good offers an a la carte menu....

and TO BOOT VZ doesn't even offer M2M on the $35 plan, making it on par w/ MVNO but MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE. FAIL.

Now if you are keen, you use GV or imessage if you need over 3000.

In any case verizon prepaid is no match for Verizon MVNO offerings.

I pay $30 a YEAR to keep a burner phone on PPC.

And this $35 plan isn't a smartphone, so you will be lucky to use 20MB

hey hey hey
@charter.com

hey hey hey to brianiscool

Anon

to brianiscool
said by brianiscool:

I use 2000 minutes a month 1000 text messages and 1GB of data a month for $49 a month.

This isn't for smartphones anyway.
itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Carlisle, PA

itguy05

Member

Reasons

Perhaps the reason postpaid additions are slowing is people are realizing what a bad deal the Share Your Paycheck plans really are.

hey hey hey
@charter.com

hey hey hey

Anon

Re: Reasons

said by itguy05:

Perhaps the reason postpaid additions are slowing is people are realizing what a bad deal the Share Your Paycheck plans really are.

Wrong. How about the fact that Verizon already has 93 million postpaid customers. How many are left to get? Also Share Everything plans are OPTIONAL for current customers. So if they don't like it they don't have to be on them. Let's see churn rate is UNDER 1%. In fact for every person that leaves Verizon 4 are joining. But hey why let FACTS get in the way.
tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT

tcope

Premium Member

Re: Reasons

said by hey hey hey :

Verizon already has 93 million postpaid customers. How many are left to get? Also Share Everything plans are OPTIONAL for current customers. So if they don't like it they don't have to be on them. Let's see churn rate is UNDER 1%. In fact for every person that leaves Verizon 4 are joining. But hey why let FACTS get in the way.

"Prepaid customers have been growing 15% year over year (compared to 1% for postpaid), and now account for 25% of all wireless consumers."

Where are all of these non-post paid people coming from? For some reason pre-paid is growing 15%. Verizon is gaining 1% post paid and loosing 1% post paid. Break even. However, pre-paid is gaining 15%. According to Verizon 14% of those pre-paid customers are not from post paid losses. So pre-paid is really the cash cow for Verizon (it's true for T-Mobile as well). So clearly, more people are becoming pre-paid. Why not post-paid? Perhaps because post-paid rates are crazy stupid.

TM agrees and even has gone as far as to not offer post-paid plans any longer. If people have a phone why should they paid subsidized rates? Why does Verizon not discount their post paid rates if a customer brings their own phone? This is where pre-paid is the only alternative. That is why more people (even on Verizon) are going with pre-paid and not post paid.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Re: Reasons

said by tcope:

said by hey hey hey :

Verizon already has 93 million postpaid customers. How many are left to get? Also Share Everything plans are OPTIONAL for current customers. So if they don't like it they don't have to be on them. Let's see churn rate is UNDER 1%. In fact for every person that leaves Verizon 4 are joining. But hey why let FACTS get in the way.

"Prepaid customers have been growing 15% year over year (compared to 1% for postpaid), and now account for 25% of all wireless consumers."

Where are all of these non-post paid people coming from? For some reason pre-paid is growing 15%. Verizon is gaining 1% post paid and loosing 1% post paid. Break even. However, pre-paid is gaining 15%. According to Verizon 14% of those pre-paid customers are not from post paid losses. So pre-paid is really the cash cow for Verizon (it's true for T-Mobile as well). So clearly, more people are becoming pre-paid. Why not post-paid? Perhaps because post-paid rates are crazy stupid.

TM agrees and even has gone as far as to not offer post-paid plans any longer. If people have a phone why should they paid subsidized rates? Why does Verizon not discount their post paid rates if a customer brings their own phone? This is where pre-paid is the only alternative. That is why more people (even on Verizon) are going with pre-paid and not post paid.

People are discovering prepaid doesn't have all the BS unfees that postpaid does. however this is waaaaay overpriced compared to tmo. i'll stick to my 83 cents per month, one reload per year.
bsdaiwa
join:2004-06-04
Fullerton, CA

bsdaiwa

Member

CDMA Only

Would this new $35 Verizon Prepaid Plan work only on CDMA phones?
bnceo
join:2007-10-11
Bel Air, MD

bnceo

Member

Re: CDMA Only

Seeing as Verizon using CDMA technology for the voice and 3G aspect of it, yes.
bnceo

bnceo

Member

Devils is in the Details

Firstly, you can't bring your own device as this plan is only on four phones. So you can't buy a GS3 or iPhone on the craigslist market and use it. In addition, it says 3G enabled phones. So I'm sure you're not going to get LTE on this thing. In addition, I'm sure in the weeds there's some sort of throttling involved. Not to mention these phones probably have horrible cell radio chips built into them.
SunnyD
join:2009-03-20
Madison, AL

SunnyD

Member

Unlimited web for non-smartphones...

lol... what's the point of this plan?

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited web for non-smartphones...

I was going to say the exact same thing. Makes me really wonder who exactly they are trying to sucker into this plan.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner to SunnyD

Premium Member

to SunnyD
Aimed at subscribers who like their Obama phones from Sprint I'd guess.
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

Re: Unlimited web for non-smartphones...

said by tired_runner:

Aimed at subscribers who like their Obama phones from Sprint I'd guess.



You mean their Reagan/Bush phone. As it was Ronald Reagan who started the "Lifeline phone" program and George Bush expanded this program to cover cellular phones in 2008.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner

Premium Member

Re: Unlimited web for non-smartphones...

Yeah but the Reagan-era phones didn't include 250 text messages

hey hey hey
@charter.com

hey hey hey to tired_runner

Anon

to tired_runner
said by tired_runner:

Aimed at subscribers who like their Obama phones from Sprint I'd guess.

You mean the program that started in 2008 when BUSH was president? A program the BUSH had to sign into law?

SparkDawg
Premium Member
join:2005-01-06
Ypsilanti, MI

SparkDawg to tired_runner

Premium Member

to tired_runner
"Lifeline is funded by telecom customers who pay a universal service fee as part of their phone bills. The fee technically is not a tax but a cross subsidy, the rules of which are determined by the Federal Communications Commission."

»www.factcheck.org/2012/0 ··· e-claim/

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY

Smith6612 to SunnyD

MVM

to SunnyD
Non-Smartphones are usually limited to 3G or 1x and the web browsers aren't as full featured. They don't have to worry too much about data usage hence the unlimited.

anonphoneuse
@comcast.net

anonphoneuse

Anon

really ??

i am sorry verizon, but the market for limited minutes and unlimited data on a basic 2G feature phone does not exist.

offer this plan for smartphone(3G would be fine if you must keep 4G LTE exlusive to high paying contract customers) owners and BYOD and you have a slam dunk success ahead.
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

That is still double what I pay now...

I have been a Verizon pre-paid customer for probably a decade now. I am still on their legacy "Free-Up" plan. I have a horrible per minute rate and pay for text messages, but only I have to buy a $30 card every 60 days.

That works out to about $15 a month.

whiteshp
join:2002-03-05
Xenia, OH

whiteshp

Member

It all depends...

This could be a value but it depends on how they set it up.

If they don't let their prepaid roam and don't allow smart phones Ting and Straighttalk will eat their lunch in coverage and usage.

If they do allow smartphones (they don't currently) and allow roaming (as per Verizon post paid) then this will be a really good value for some.

We'll have to see how they handle this....
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Re: It all depends...

I dont see anything about not letting them roam. If they roam i will be switching. I pay 45.00 to boost for a unlimited but 35 a month roaming unlimited text wins me over. Hope they do something like boost and just charge extra for smart phones. If they do that they get my wife because she pays 50 for the same thing.

MovieLover76
join:2009-09-11
Cherry Hill, NJ

MovieLover76

Member

Re: It all depends...

Where does Verizon roam? the only other cdma network is basically Sprint. I was a verizon customer for 6 years and never once roamed.

whiteshp
join:2002-03-05
Xenia, OH

whiteshp

Member

Re: It all depends...

There is a lot of smaller networks especially in rural areas that often roam with a larger carrier.

footballdude
Premium Member
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO

footballdude

Premium Member

expiration

If you get a prepaid phone, do you get to use it until the minutes you paid for are all used up, or do you just get to use it for one month? Could I prepay for a phone and not have to reup for another six months?
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Re: expiration

It can work that way but its not like that. You simply pick a plan and pay in advance of the month.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp

Member

why?

why is verizon mvno prepaid better than verizon prepaid? They really are not trying.

Net10 prepaid on verizon much better deal $45 monthly unlimited on samsung proclaim 3g android smartphone.

Or pageplus.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

3g sucks!

If you get unlimited data on a FEATURE phone it's most likely maxing out at 3g speeds.. and those suck. After 18 months paying higher rates with Boost mobile you'll end up at $35 a month. I'm not saying it's a better deal, but Virgin mobile already offers 300 minutes / unlimited data service for $35 AND last time I checked you CAN choose smart phones on that package. ** YMMV on throttling though!

Might be a good idea to cough up the extra $5-$10 a month (for SOME people) and get triple-play unlimited w/ a smart phone of your choice/budget *through a MVNO*. I'd try if it were $20 a month or less-- no way in hell for $35. Tracfone's minutes plans would be cheaper using some heavy texting/emails instead plus using wifi on a fuller feature phone.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Re: 3g sucks!

Boost charges a extra 5 dollars a month for smart phones. Virgin mobile while cheaper just doesnt have the coverage around here. Last but not least is boost is unlimited. Virgin mobiles 300 minutes is pretty limiting.

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

Right now Tmobile is the best deal

For only $70/month you get truly unlimited EVERYthing with NO contract and it includes 4G too.

••••

amenite
The Soylent - It's People
Premium Member
join:2002-11-21
Ridgewood, NJ

amenite

Premium Member

T-Mobile for the low use pre-paid

A little off topic, but when I needed a phone for "emergencies", to have in a family member's car and not use much (if at all) I found T-Mobile had the best deal going. You can prepay as little $10 at a time and that payment is good for 90 days. Costs $2/day but only if you use the phone that day, so because it is used so rarely it's ready to go at all times for $40/year.