Verizon Announces Wireless Pricing Changes As we leaked to you earlier this week... Though news of the changes already leaked here and elsewhere earlier this week, Verizon Wireless held a conference call this morning to discuss a number of wireless pricing changes that will be coming January 18. The press release highlights all of the changes, including new Nationwide Unlimited Talk plan that allows customers to call anyone in the United States for $69.99 a month, or Verizon's new Nationwide Unlimited Talk & Text plan to call and send text, picture and video messages to anyone in the country for $89.99 a month. In their conference call, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam also said the company was also streamlining their device lineup from about eighty phones, to around fifty -- with that number possibly being reduced further. As we discussed earlier this week, phones are now classified in three categories ("simple feature," "3G Multimedia," and "3G smartphone"). All phones will now require some kind of data plan. As for data plans, there's a choice of three: pay per byte ($1.99 per additional MB), $9.99 for 25MB of usage (20 cents per additional MB), or $29.99 for unlimited (usually that means a 5GB cap in Verizon parlance) 3G access. Which phone you have dictates what plan you can use. Simple feature phones can use any of the three, 3G Multimedia phones must now at least sign up for the $9.99 plan but can upgrade to the $29.99 plan. Smartphone users must use Verizon's pricier smartphone plans. The biggest news of course is that Verizon's 25 megabyte for $9.99 per month plan (the one we're sure Verizon makes the most money from) is now mandatory for all of Verizon's "3G Multimedia" phones. It was previously restricted to the LG enV TOUCH and the Samsung Rogue. If you think 25 megabytes is a bit paltry for 2010, you'd be right. Given the average data user is going to use more than 25 megabytes, the new tier structure is designed to nudge all "3G Multimedia" phone customers toward that $30 price point.
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  jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA | Creative How cute, Verizon found a way to keep their $1.99 charge for those users that never actually want or need to to use any data services. I'm guessing, just as it happens now, that even an inadvertent trip along the data route will bring about this $1.99 fee. | |
|  | | | Re: Creative said by jmn1207:How cute, Verizon found a way to keep their $1.99 charge for those users that never actually want or need to to use any data services. I'm guessing, just as it happens now, that even an inadvertent trip along the data route will bring about this $1.99 fee. Just call and they will credit you the $1.99 fee. I've called a few times and they didn't even question it and just credited it back.
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Certs: CCNA, GPEN, GCIH, GCFW, GSEC, GCIA, GCFA | |
| | | jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA | Re: Creative said by Crypto_Bug:said by jmn1207:How cute, Verizon found a way to keep their $1.99 charge for those users that never actually want or need to to use any data services. I'm guessing, just as it happens now, that even an inadvertent trip along the data route will bring about this $1.99 fee. Just call and they will credit you the $1.99 fee. I've called a few times and they didn't even question it and just credited it back. Is it a 900 number that costs $1.99 per call? 
Most people won't notice it on their bills or understand what this charge is for, and a majority of those that do evidently don't do anything about it. It reminds me of how mail-in rebates are used to display a great deal, while the process of actually getting these savings is usually a confusing ordeal with returns showing up several weeks or even months later.
It's just a gimmick that has proved to make millions of dollars, and not something that will likely be changed by the entity making this profit. | |
| | | calibax
join:2000-12-08
Sunnyvale, CA | In other words, Verizon may continue to make invalid charges, but will be happy to refund your money if you catch them doing it and challenge them.
No doubt, it's just their friendly way to provide an incentive to check your bill carefully each month. And for the millions that don't... | |
| | |  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
 ·Charter
1 edit | said by Crypto_Bug  Just call and they will credit you the $1.99 fee. I've called a few times and they didn't even question it and just credited it back. | |
| | | |  NOVA_GuyObamaCare Kills AmericansPremium
join:2002-03-05 | Re: Creative If 70 million people called each month, I think VZW would start losing money from having to hire extra CSRs to handle the call volume. Now that you mention it, I actually kinda like that idea! | |
| | | | | | I wish that would happen! | |
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|  elios
join:2005-11-15
Springfield, MO | does this effect people that have a contract already or just new ones? | |
| | |  SabreDi relung hatiku bernyanyi bidadari
join:2005-05-17 | Re: Creative Per the press release, current contracts are unaffected. | |
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| ke4pymPremium
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC | What I'm interested to see is if they'll still honor their data block. All of my phones have text and data blocked so there's no chance of getting a text message or data fee.
Wonder if they'll keep that ability in place. | |
| | | jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA | Re: Creative said by ke4pym:What I'm interested to see is if they'll still honor their data block. All of my phones have text and data blocked so there's no chance of getting a text message or data fee. Wonder if they'll keep that ability in place. Absolutely, I wouldn't expect that to change. The problem is that Verizon already charges a ton of money for text and picture mail features that a lot of people want and use, but I've not seen Verizon offer the ability to block just the data for online services that generates this $1.99 fee. Your choice is to completely block all types of data, like you are doing. The solution would be to make the first MB free, but that would cause Verizon to lose millions of dollars each month, so a consumer friendly solution will never happen. Verizon will just continue to blame the phone manufacturer's software, and keep raking in this bonus profit. | |
| | | | ke4pymPremium
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC | Re: Creative All you do is call them up. "Block data and sms/mms" and it is done. It even says so on the features section on my bill. Works great. You hit that up arrow, the browser loads then fails to connect. | |
| | | | | jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Reston, VA | Re: Creative said by ke4pym:All you do is call them up. "Block data and sms/mms" and it is done. It even says so on the features section on my bill. Works great. You hit that up arrow, the browser loads then fails to connect. What if you just have no interest in using any data, but still need to communicate with SMS? From what I have read, the only sure way to stop this phantom $1.99 charge is to completely block both data and messaging, yet they are billed separately in some plans. If people were able to just exclusively block data, and keep this fee from continuing to appear on their bills, it would not have been a big deal at all. | |
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| | | | said by ke4pym:What I'm interested to see is if they'll still honor their data block. All of my phones have text and data blocked so there's no chance of getting a text message or data fee. Wonder if they'll keep that ability in place. I would expect they'll follow the directory listing plan that requires a fee to not be listed, and start charging you a $1.99 "Data Block" fee.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/4x 2048Mb G.Skill/WD Raptor 300Gb/3x WD20EADS 2TB/2x PNY GTX 260/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler | |
| | |  BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by ke4pym:What I'm interested to see is if they'll still honor their data block. All of my phones have text and data blocked so there's no chance of getting a text message or data fee. Wonder if they'll keep that ability in place. If you get one of those 3G phones the it doens't matter if you have data blocked you are still required to get the $10 or $30 plan. | |
| | | | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 | Re: Creative I'll bet Verizon will actually save a lot of CS calls complaining about bills because someone decided to surf the web (at $1.99 per MB) on their phone and used up 20MB over the course of a month. $10 $40. | |
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|  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Don't need to worry about a $1.99 fee now, as it, along with the fine for it will be recovered by a mandatory $9.99 fee for MOST devices. | |
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| | Here we go again I guess it's that time of year again to find out how each of the big companies is going to screw their customers over in the new year.
Forced data plans.....there's customer service for you.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/4x 2048Mb G.Skill/WD Raptor 300Gb/3x WD20EADS 2TB/2x PNY GTX 260/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler | |
| | BigVe
join:2005-07-15
Gulliver, MI | Re: Here we go again Time to check out the other providers and dump Verizon | |
| | |  beldinScript Monkey number 50Premium
join:2006-06-06
Union, SC | Re: Here we go again I starting to look real hard at the pre-paid phones like Trac Phone and such at Wally World.
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DSL Extreme 6.0 (Home)
Wildblue Pro Pack (Work) | |
| | | | | | Re: Here we go again Check out Straight Talk and PagePlus (search google). These two are using Verizon network but are month-to-month and excellent pricing. | |
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| | | Remember it's all about providing customers with value!!!!  | |
| | |  mking128
join:2005-08-10
College Point, NY
·RoadRunner Cable
·Time Warner Cable
 ·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | Re: Here we go again Hell, VZW's executives figured that if credit card companies can get away with raising interest rates and banks can charge higher fees, they might as well join the party - afterall, who isn't look for profits & huge year-end bonuses. AND, ***** the government & AG's inquiries about the bogus $1.99 mystery fees on the customer bills. "Let's get even"
We, the consumers, do have choices & vote with our wallet & can pay for things with a debit card (processed as a credit card with no transaction fees)
VZW's "We never stop working for you ...." Duh, and just hand over your wallet. Nah, I can terminate the contract & port my wife's number into a prepaid plan (and save an additional 25% in taxes, fees & mandatory surcharges) later this year when the contract is up for renewal.
Don't we love government de-regulations !! NOT | |
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| tomz17
join:2004-01-09
Newark, NJ | NOT NEWS! The MAJOR changes already happened about 2 years ago when they removed MOU (minutes on use) data --and-- about 6 months ago when they removed the vcast vpack.
Again... this is EXACTLY how things are right now except :
- There is a $19.99 75 meg option which is going to be removed. Only the $9.99 (25 meg) and $29.99 (5 gig) options will remain.
- There is a new "category" of phones called 3g multimedia phones. These phones are now REQUIRED to have at least the $9.99 plan. These are phones that have substantial multimedia capability but run a proprietary OS (anything not blackberry, windows mobile, or android). These usually have larger screens, a non-wap browser, a simple e-mail client, and are designed to promote multimedia messaging.
Verizon has ALWAYS strongly suggested the purchase of a data plan for these... (after all, what idiot spends the cash on a phone like this if you aren't going to use the 3g multimedia features!?) They *used* to give you the option to sign these up for Vcast ($15 unlimited data), but that was already removed last year.
So to summarize :
- They are removing the $19.99 75 meg option
- They now REQUIRE (versus strongly suggest) a $9.99 data plan if you get yourself a fancy phone
Everything else stays the same. If you want a basic phone, you still pay the same price!
P.S. 25 megs is actually quite a bit of data for a non-smartphone. I wish it were more too, but it's not some bizarro-unrealistic number that would force everyone onto the $30 plan. My old verizon htc touch smart phone (windows mobile) averaged about 50 megs a month (with push mail / google maps / youtube web browsing, etc.).
P.P.S. If you want a fancy "media" phone, pageplus will give you 1200 minutes, 1200 texts, and 50 megs of data on the verizon network for $29.99/month (less if you buy the refill cards online) | |
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Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
1 edit | Re: Here we go again Yes, other than eliminating an entire price tier, lowering the $9.99 cap from 50 to 20 cents per additional megabyte, reclassifying all phones, reducing total number of phones offered, revamping voice plans, expanding which phones must have at least a $9.99 plan -- and essentially revamping their entire price structure so that most of their customers who use data pay more money -- this is not news.  | |
| | | | tomz17
join:2004-01-09
Newark, NJ | Re: Here we go again said by Karl Bode:Yes, other than eliminating an entire price tier - You mean the $19.99 for 75 megs ? They add and remove feature packs like this on almost a monthly basis. *yawn* How is that HUGE news?
said by Karl Bode:lowering the $9.99 cap from 50 to 20 cents per additional megabyte - Ok, they LOWERED overage charges
- No (practically speaking) they actually haven't really reclassified anything. These classifications have always existed in verizon-world. Before you had smartphones and non-smartphones. Smartphones ALWAYS required the $29.99 data plan. Among the non-smartphones they would typically strongly recommend you take a data plan for the multimedia-capable phones if you were going to make any use of the 3g-multimedia capabilities (otherwise you would get ass-reamed with $1.99/meg and undoubtedly bitch endlessly when the first bill came). This time last year, they would have tried to sell you on the vcast vpack for $15. Recently, they would try to get you onto the $9.99 or $19.99 plan. Now they REQUIRE the $9.99 plan for these NINE "multimedia" phones.
said by Karl Bode:reducing total number of phones offered Phone selection varies on a weekly basis. Stocking additional phones does cost extra. Again, not really huge news here, as very few people care whether they sell 80 or 50 models of phones... Quick, off the top of your head, how many models of phones does AT&T sell? Right... nobody cares!
They dropped the price of unlimited by 30%. Everything else has stayed exactly the same. I guess that will be newsworthy, especially if other carriers respond.
said by Karl Bode:expanding which phones must have at least a $9.99 plan AFAIK, nobody was FORCED onto the $9.99 plan before, but the majority of customers elected to purchase this feature pack anyway (since they bought a multimedia phone to use the MULTIMEDIA features). The remaining vocal minority complained bitterly about their $1.99/meg in overages (I'm not talking about the phantom charges, get-it-now or wap browser fiasco). Now there's NINE phones that will REQUIRE the $9.99 plan, but most of those customers already had at least the $9.99 data pack. This only affects those that wanted to buy a 3g-multimedia phone but not use any of the 3g-multimedia features!
said by Karl Bode: -- and essentially revamping their entire price structure so that most of their customers who use data pay more money MOST OF THEIR CUSTOMERS!? NOT TRUE!
- NOTHING changes for existing customers... you are grandfathered into your old plan for life (until you CHOOSE to change something) (no change)
- New smartphone users STILL pay $29.99. hell, they recently began to corp-discount the data packs as well. Smartphone data has actually become CHEAPER for me in the past few months. (let's say no change)
- New customers choosing to buy one of the NINE multimedia phones now HAVE to take the $9.99 data package as well (but most already chose to do this before anyway). The upside is that overage is now much cheaper. (so this might be more expensive --or-- cheaper depending on how much data you actually use per month)
- New customers choosing any regular phone can continue to do what they have always done.. (no change)
uhh... it isn't... I've seen this "story" 15 times already. it has been blown out of proportion by every single media outlet. The loss of vcast vpack, and MOU data was HUGE news IMHO (but never got really covered). As far as your wallet goes this is a little popcorn fart compared to that. The ONLY people affected are those that want to buy one of the nine "3g multimedia handsets" and pay $1.99/meg for data. Most customers with those phones typically already bought the $9.99 data plan anyway.
I'm not defending the US wireless industry here. Data is WAY WAY WAY overpriced (see some of my other posts comparing the cost of 3G services you can get in other countries). But verizon is actually comparable (in data pricing) with other US carriers, even after these new changes.
More importantly, the sky isn't falling at verizon wireless this January... This is a relatively minor adjustment considering some of the industry changes that have passed-by unnoticed these past three years! | |
| | | | | Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
1 edit | Re: Here we go again I'm impressed by the length of your last post, but I'm still confused. You say none of this is news, then you rattle off about seven different changes that were made to Verizon Wireless pricing -- at one point even admitting it MIGHT be news. You note that the reconfiguration/elimination of VCAST was news (which we covered) -- as was when Verizon unveiled these new plans six months ago (which we also covered). Now that Verizon eliminates an entire pricing tier, lowers an overage fee, and makes a number of other changes it's NOT news.
I guess I just don't follow. Clearly I need a pie chart. | |
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| | | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 | NOTE: if you use 75MB of data you'll still be paying $20 per month, as long as you downgrade to the $10 plan. It's actually a slightly better deal.. | |
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| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by tomz17:There is a new "category" of phones called 3g multimedia phones. These phones are now REQUIRED to have at least the $9.99 plan. These are phones that have substantial multimedia capability but run a proprietary OS (anything not blackberry, windows mobile, or android). These usually have larger screens, a non-wap browser, a simple e-mail client, and are designed to promote multimedia messaging. Verizon has ALWAYS strongly suggested the purchase of a data plan for these... (after all, what idiot spends the cash on a phone like this if you aren't going to use the 3g multimedia features!?) Actually my chocolate 3 is classified as one of these phones and thus is required to get at least the $10 data plan if I make changes to my plan. I don't use the data and no that doesn't make me an idiot. Ever think some of these phones have features people want that have nothing to do with data?
Basically peoples' choices are
A) totally gimped crap phone
B) phone with features you want, pay $10 more for data you never plan on using. | |
| | | nonymousPremium
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ Reviews:
 ·Callcentric
| "- There is a new "category" of phones called 3g multimedia phones. These phones are now REQUIRED to have at least the $9.99 plan. These are phones that have substantial multimedia capability but run a proprietary OS (anything not blackberry, windows mobile, or android). These usually have larger screens, a non-wap browser, a simple e-mail client, and are designed to promote multimedia messaging.
Verizon has ALWAYS strongly suggested the purchase of a data plan for these... (after all, what idiot spends the cash on a phone like this if you aren't going to use the 3g multimedia features!?) They *used* to give you the option to sign these up for Vcast ($15 unlimited data), but that was already removed last year."
Older people who text message and send photos and like even a small keyboard, that is who. i am too old to text under my desk on a normal phone. 
Where I live Verizon still has the best coverage in rural areas I go to. But at the end of the contract a choice will be made. Those 70 million subs could disappear fast. | |
| | | | | | Re: Here we go again said by nonymous:(after all, what idiot spends the cash on a phone like this if you aren't going to use the 3g multimedia features!?) I guess I would be that idiot. I carry a "smart" phone, for the PDA features. I use the built in wifi when I need to connect to the internet (for free) because it's available just about everywhere I go. I have no need to waste more money on a cell data plan, but I do use features on my phone beyond making phone calls. | |
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 ThrowDemsOutIf you can't convince 'em, confuse 'emPremium
join:2002-03-03
Mullica Hill, NJ
kudos:4 | Verizon plans are costliest of all vendors I guess their highest rated network ratings make them feel they can charge the highest prices. But, people have choices - use another cell phone company. T-Mobile and Sprint are the cheapest post paid plans. And, of course, you can get unlimited voice & data plans from several pre-paid vendors.
I left Verizon last year. Don't like Verizon prices - do the same. | |
| | | | Re: Verizon plans are costliest of all vendors Or go pre-paid like PagePlus. PagePlus uses the Verizon network!
What do you think I'm doing when my contract is up? | |
|
Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
| when price cuts hit the industry like a ton of bricks Verizon lowers prices by $10-$30 a month...
Still, prepaid no-contract plans are less than half that albeit with a less than stelar lineup of phones. Don't forget your taxes & fees... these are still contract prices. So, the verdict is in.. Fios Prices UP, UP ,UP.. and Wireless prices dooown (slightly, begrudgingly).
Companies with lower prepaid unlimited pricing:
Tmobile
MetroPCS (sprint)
AT&T
Tracfone (straight-talk)
Net10(also-dba tracfone)
again, the phones available for these plans suck and/or are expensive compared to the featuresets. | |
| | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: when price cuts hit the industry like a ton of bricks MetroPCS is not sprint. | |
| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
1 edit | said by tmc8080:Verizon lowers prices by $10-$30 a month... Then requires you to get a data plan at $10-$30a month. A good example of when a price cut is not a price cut. | |
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 | Correction: Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are Sprint. MetroPCS ins't. Straight Talk is Verizon. Net10 Unlimited is AT&T. | |
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b10010011Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
Bellingham, WA | I'll stick with my old Verizon pre-paid plan I am still on the old "Free-Up" prepaid plan.
I buy $30 worth of time every 60 days.
Pretty much works out to $15 a month service for me. | |
|  Deckohi have..so there for i havePremium
join:2002-07-24
San Diego, CA | ? so can we use this as leverage to get out of a current contract? | |
| | | | Re: ? No, since it doesn't effect existing customers. | |
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| | Wonder What will Happen My wife got an env3 to replace her defective env2 at Christmas with no data plan. I wonder if, when or how VZ will try and get her on a data plan. She does not use the internet and only wanted the env3 because she liked it as it was similar to the old env2.
Keep tuned sports fans. | |
| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: Wonder What will Happen said by No to ESPN :
My wife got an env3 to replace her defective env2 at Christmas with no data plan. I wonder if, when or how VZ will try and get her on a data plan. She does not use the internet and only wanted the env3 because she liked it as it was similar to the old env2.
Keep tuned sports fans.
right now she doesn't. BUT if you change your plan then they will require it.
basically this is a way for Verizon to increase your bill by $10 a month without having to say they are raising prices. | |
|
dforan
join:2000-12-09
Willoughby, OH Reviews:
·AT&T DSL Service
·Time Warner Cable
1 edit | THIS SUX I carry 2 cell phones
One is mine the other is company
Ok read between the lines
Why am I forced to pay for a data plan when I only used it once to download the backup software. Or are they now going to charge us for backup even though it is a "free" option
As I said in an earlier post, the BIGGER the company, they want NOTHING to do with helping out the peon..
Time Warner AT&T Comcrap.. Verizon all sort of SUCK
After I think some more I have 3 lines and 2, 3g, deivce with one totally data block | |
| | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: THIS SUX said by dforan:As I said in an earlier post, the BIGGER the company, they want NOTHING to do with helping out the peon.. If you EVER thought ANY company was out to "help out the peon" you've been sadly misguided in your thinking... business is out to make money, plain and simple. ANY business is out to protect themselves and survive any economic climate, and make a profit. They never do anything to "help" any of their customers.. even when it appears they are doing something to "help" the customer, every single move any business makes is to bolster their own bottom line - period.. nothing more. And, unless they are breaking the law, there is nothing wrong with that - it's part of capitalism... businesses are going to make as much money as the current market climate will allow.
In this case, however, I believe Verizon is making a mistake. HOWEVER, they still have their contracted customers, that in my opinion, are too stupid to pay their ETF fee, break out of the chains of VZ's dungeon, cut their small losses and move to another provider. I CONSTANTLY remind my wireless providers that their $200 ETF fee can easily be placed on my credit card and be done with... and then promptly remind them that it's the last $200 they'll make from me. And, the longer I have left int he contract the better. Sprint, for example, if $130 a month.. they can either take care of me and treat me fairly and keep that monthly invoice for 24 months, of consider me gone and pocke the $200, which for the most part goes to the cost of the hardware I got anyway.
Sadly, too many people are too stupid to pay the fee and simply leave.. they'd rather continue to pay an average $75 monthly bill for the next 2 years and take the crap. | |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Bascially no way to pay less than $100 a month Verizon is going to make sure it gets at least $100 a month per customer. | |
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See 10 replies to this post | |
|  gballMaster YodaPremium
join:2000-11-28
South Bend, IN | Stop The Press!! This Just In!! You will now be required to buy the unlimited texting plan if you buy a phone with a slide out keyboard or if you under 40 years old!! | |
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
·Comcast
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Stop The Press!! This Just In!! People know what an SMS is. They don't have a firm idea of what a MB is. Verizon can keep cashing in on "casual SMS" users if they don't force everyone into an SMS plan, and since everyone with a multimedia phone will need a data plan they probably won't want to chase people off by raising their bills *that* much. | |
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| | Move Along All thats going on is that Verizon is prepping for the nexus one and iPhone later in the year. Just look at how these prices line up to AT&T's iPhone plans. | |
| Eek2121Lovin Verizon FIOS
join:2002-10-12
Newton, NJ Reviews:
·Service Electric..
| Tired of the misinformation here... Guys, I really am getting sick of the (mis) information being spread around. The unlimited options do NOT have a cap. They never did. The cap only applies when tethered. I've personally done more than 5 GB on my blackberry without issue. Please stop spreading false information.
Also, viewing the terms of use, the only thing 'prohibited' are illegal activities. My terms of use states that things like VOIP are explicitely allowed.
PS I am not an employee of Verizon, on the contrary, I'm an irate customer getting sick of Verizon's high prices, but unfortunately I need their network. | |
| | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: Tired of the misinformation here... Ummm.. unless you know for sure in what you say about the data on the phone being unlimited, I"d hold the press on that.
That could be YOUR plan.. it may not affect new plans, or different plans.
When Sprint introduced the soft 5bg cap on the unlimited data cards, I wasn't affected by it. My data card is still unlimited.. so if I wasn't in the true know, I'd say that the data card cap is BS.. even though it's not..
People tend to post what they know as true.. it may not be true in all cases.. there's a hundred plans out there.. people just don't realize it and not all of them are posted in public view. | |
| | | Eek2121Lovin Verizon FIOS
join:2002-10-12
Newton, NJ | Re: Tired of the misinformation here... This IS a new plan. Got it 4 months ago. Used 43 GB the first month i got it. | |
| | | | fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | Re: Tired of the misinformation here... ...43 gig?? ...on a wireless device?? (not tethering?) | |
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| | Just go away I wish Verizon Wireless would just wither up and evaporate from the marketplace and take all their crappy price structures with them. But at least they finally figured out the difference between data and minutes. Ah the good old days....... | |
| FisamoPremium
join:2004-02-20
Apex, NC |  New pricing discourages upgrades - a summary of my options
I use the minimal Family plan with 3 lines. With this new pricing structure, I'd be required to add a $10/mo data plan for the two lines I'd upgrade, raising my monthly obligation from $80 (before taxes) to $100, a 25% price increase.
I do not know how common my 'profile' is among Verizon customers - if users like me comprise 0.01% of their customers or 20% of their customers. But for those who use their phones as I do, they're providing significant motivation to hold out until all our lines come off contract and move to one of their MVNOs like Page Plus. One has to assume that Verizon has calculated that they'll lose a fraction of said users but that the increased profit from these data plans will surpass the income from departing 'low-profit' customers...
The next question (for me) becomes how much the subsidy of a 2-year contract amortizes out on the monthly cost (that I'd pay) were I to purchase one of the '3G multimedia' phones off contract and just activate it on a PagePlus account. After all, two of the Page Plus Talk&Text 1200 plans plus one Standard plan would set me back $62.50/mo, but would nearly quadruple my airtime allowance (no longer 700 minutes shared), would add 2400 TXT messages (I currently pay per TXT), and 50MB per line (for two of the lines), probably plenty for my needs. Sticking with Verizon would cost me about $100-110/mo (including discounts available to me and taxes/fees) if I upgrade my phones... Total cost difference works out to $960 over 2 years for my account. For the non-data phone, I could purchase an LG VX8300 from Page Plus for $60, leaving me $450/phone to get off-contract new phones from Verizon (yes, up-front cost) for the total spend over 2 years to be equal.
So for an EnV-3, I'd pay $300 non-contract (today's price on VZW website for non-contract), saving me $300/2 years (more than the cost of one of the required data plans). For the EnV Touch, I'd save about $100 over 2 years - almost doesn't seem worth it, except that in addition to saving $4/mo, I'd have many more minutes and much less worry (if any) over TXT usage. So I'd actually be able to USE those 3G features (some, anyway) without additional cost to me. It's not looking good for me sticking with Verizon...
Thankfully, my current pricing is retained until I either upgrade phones or change plans, which I'm not inclined to do, given the new requirements. So, I'll just hang on until my last contract expires in early August (can't justify paying an ETF) and see what makes sense (e.g. if this new pricing model has blown up in Big Red's face) at that time. | |
| | | | Re: New pricing discourages upgrades - a summary of my options Hi Fisamo,
Apparently there is no stipulation that you have to pay the ETF in one chunk immediately upon early termination. ATT charged me $175 plus 6% sales tax (Maryland rate) which amounted to another $10.50. My response was to faithfully pay them $25 per month for 7 months (and not a cent in state sales tax). I thought that the slow ETF payment partially offset them charging my credit card a full month ($85) for for 4 days of service in my last month (Feb 25 - Feb 28) in a month that normally ran from Feb 25th through March 24th had I not early terminated on the 28th. I have heard of people paying as low as $1 per month or less for ETF. I just felt that $25 per month was more than reasonable enough for the greedy likes of ATT and Verizon!
Wayne | |
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ednj
join:2001-03-09
Hillsborough, NJ Reviews:
·Comcast
| MVNO option While it's true that you can save money moving to an MVNO (PagePlus, Virgin, etc.) they don't offer the latest phones and usually have the very basic flip or older models. The decision to leave Verizon depends on what you use your mobile phone for and where you use it. If you need to access email frequently and travel to remote areas, your options are limited. Smartphones at $70 per month become more competitive relative to the "3G multimedia" phones that will cost as much and offer fewer features. | |
| | | Blackberry unlimited pricing? So does my $45 corporate data plan on my blackberry now get reduced to $29.99? | |
|  cer
@texonlp.com | How will data package affect family share plans? I have 4 lines on my account. Can I elect the $9.99 package for all my lines combined, or is it $9.99 per line? | |
| drugrep--
join:2000-08-10
Woodridge, IL | I just want rollover minutes! If AT&T ever gets a functional signal in Chicago and suburbs, I will dump Verizon for rollover minutes.
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If the firmware wasn't broke, there wouldn't be an update for it! | |
|  Prairie DogHere's Looking At You KidPremium
join:2000-08-09
Langhorne, PA | Don't know who is worst the credit card companies, with all their ways to screw you, or Verizon. Verizon is certainly the worst of all wireless carriers, as far as pricing and the "got you factor". | |
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Verizon Announces Wireless Pricing Changes