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Verizon Lowers 3G Overage Prices
And bumps cap on $40 tier slightly...
As we've recently noted, both Verizon and AT&T are planning to offer subsidized netbooks, something that will bring additional attention on their very low wireless broadband data caps and sometimes costly overages. In the hopes of selling more netbooks as they move forward, Verizon is bringing their 3G EVDO data plans more in line with the plans used for their new Wi-Fi/3G router. The cap on their $40 tier will jump from 50 MB to 250MB, while overages will decrease from 25 cents to 10 cents per megabyte. The cap for their $60 tier remains at 5GB per month, though overages are being reduced from 25 cents to 5 cents per megabyte.
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DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker

Premium Member

50 MB?

I can't believe they actually had a 50 MB cap before. That is pretty lame
stufried
Premium Member
join:2003-10-13

stufried

Premium Member

Re: 50 MB?

I hope ATT is reading this. Verizon's prices have actually gotten a little more aggressive than ATT's. I hope ATT matches the changes.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon to DataRiker

Member

to DataRiker

Sprint doesn't seem to overcharge

Sprint has an overage charge after 5GB but doesn't seem to be charging anything. I've gone over 5GB many many times - no overcharges.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Sprint doesn't seem to overcharge

Sprint needs customers... they're not willing to put a poison pill to their customers while they are losing customers without a cap. Give them some time.

wwdubbia
join:2002-06-03
Clinton, NY

1 edit

wwdubbia to xenophon

Member

to xenophon
said by xenophon:

Sprint has an overage charge after 5GB but doesn't seem to be charging anything. I've gone over 5GB many many times - no overcharges.
maybe THAT's why they're in such dire financial straits.

Baltimore
@spcsdns.net

Baltimore

Anon

Slightly?

Moving from 50 MB to 250 MB is a 500% increase. A tad bigger than a "slight" bump...

SlightlyConfused

Anon

Re: Slightly?

said by Baltimore :

Moving from 50 MB to 250 MB is a 500% increase. A tad bigger than a "slight" bump...
Slightly is a relative term. If they had a 1kb cap and increased it to 1024kb cap, they could claim over a 1000% increase, but you still wouldn't be able to download a month's worth of even e-mail.

250MB is still incredibly small, perhaps only good for checking a personal e-mail account, and almost never an active business one. Not to even mention web browsing.

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords to Baltimore

MVM

to Baltimore
Exchanging the nickle in my pocket for a quarter is still a slight bump in the grand scheme of things.

50 MB was laughable. 250 MB is, well, still laughable.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym

Premium Member

Odd

My bill still shows I have "unlimited data" on the $59.99 plan.

Wonder if this is for new customers.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Odd

said by ke4pym:

My bill still shows I have "unlimited data" on the $59.99 plan.

Wonder if this is for new customers.
I signed a contract with VZW over 2 years ago (has since expired and I've moved carriers) and it mentioned the 5GB limit. It was buried somewhere in the bill itself though, not on the summary line.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym

Premium Member

Re: Odd

said by Matt3:

said by ke4pym:

My bill still shows I have "unlimited data" on the $59.99 plan.

Wonder if this is for new customers.
I signed a contract with VZW over 2 years ago (has since expired and I've moved carriers) and it mentioned the 5GB limit. It was buried somewhere in the bill itself though, not on the summary line.
In every instance of my bill it says "unlimited data". I've scoured the 8 page report and can't find any instance where it says anything other than that.

I started service with them in May of 2006.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Re: Odd

said by ke4pym:

said by Matt3:

said by ke4pym:

My bill still shows I have "unlimited data" on the $59.99 plan.

Wonder if this is for new customers.
I signed a contract with VZW over 2 years ago (has since expired and I've moved carriers) and it mentioned the 5GB limit. It was buried somewhere in the bill itself though, not on the summary line.
In every instance of my bill it says "unlimited data". I've scoured the 8 page report and can't find any instance where it says anything other than that.

I started service with them in May of 2006.
I just checked an old bill and you're right, mine says:


PDA/SMARTPHONE Unl
$44.99 monthly access charge
Unlimited monthly kilobyte


However, the tether package does have a limit attached, weird:


BBA Connect 5GB/$.25mb
$15.00 monthly access charge
5120 monthly megabyte allowance

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

Re: Odd

It probably means you have the technical capability of having unlimited data, not that you get a flat rate for unlimited data consumption.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym to Matt3

Premium Member

to Matt3
I've got a data card. Wonder if that's where the difference lies.
donjuan2002
join:2002-10-06
Kearny, NJ

donjuan2002 to Matt3

Member

to Matt3
I take care the business acount for the company that i work, you have and old plan, and YES you have unlimited data until contract expires, they you will go to the 5gb
Pbfour51
join:2003-01-11
Germantown, MD

Pbfour51 to Matt3

Member

to Matt3
The package quoting unlimited monthly kilobyte (PDA/SMARTPHONE Unl) is for the device (smartphone, pda, blackberry, winmo, whatever) itself while the other one called BBA Connect is for when the device is in tethering mode.

This is true of all data packages from VZW. Presuming you're on a data plan, a PHONES data is unlimited. Any data not used on a phone isn't (aircard, MiFi, tethering, etc), and is subject to the limit specified on your bill.
dlewis23
join:2005-04-18
Boca Raton, FL

1 edit

dlewis23

Member

Still a Joke!

5 Cents per MB, thats crazy I pay 3 Cents per GB overage with one of my servers.

If they would just offer a reasonable amount for the cap this wouldn't be a problem.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Still a Joke!

said by dlewis23:

5 Cents per MB, thats crazy I pay 3 Cents per GB overage with one of my servers.
And that server data doesn't run thru a cell tower with a T1 link providing access to the backbone.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Still a Joke!

said by FFH5:

said by dlewis23:

5 Cents per MB, thats crazy I pay 3 Cents per GB overage with one of my servers.
And that server data doesn't run thru a cell tower with a T1 link providing access to the backbone.
And that somehow costs Verizon $51 per GB to provide that?

Does Verizon at this time need a cap? yes. Can they bump it to 10 GB and still be ok? Yes. Can they charge $1 per GB overage instead of $51 and be ok? yes.
dlewis23
join:2005-04-18
Boca Raton, FL

dlewis23 to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

said by dlewis23:

5 Cents per MB, thats crazy I pay 3 Cents per GB overage with one of my servers.
And that server data doesn't run thru a cell tower with a T1 link providing access to the backbone.
No it just runs through 12 - 10 Gbps links in the rackspace data center.

doubledolittle
@193.113.57.x

doubledolittle to FFH5

Anon

to FFH5
I would hazard a guess and say many cell towers would have significantly more capacity than a T1?
youngmoore
join:2001-03-16
Marietta, GA

youngmoore

Member

Re: Still a Joke!

One would think those towers would. In metro areas I'm sure they do but out in the county its mostly just one or 2 T1's. The biggest hold up is backhaul. This is what makes me wonder about LTE for people that live out in the country. They say it will be easier to do guess we will see.

ym
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Still a Joke!

I priced out a T1 last week to my place, which is relatively representative of the pricing Verizon etc. would get aorund here, and found it to e much less expensive than expected. A mere $600/month in fact. A few bucks per GB to be sure, but not even the $12 per GB that they charge for a mobile broadband plan...

Bit00
Premium Member
join:2009-02-19
00000

Bit00

Premium Member

$50/GB for overage fees?

Yeah, that isn't gouging...

yolarry
join:2007-12-29
Creston, WV

yolarry

Member

No thanks

If it was only 250MB a day. I would take it but no thanks.

Time
Premium Member
join:2003-07-05
Irvine, CA

Time

Premium Member

250 megs...

I used almost 2 gigs on my iPhone alone last month, 250 megs is a joke.
NeoandGeo
join:2003-05-10
Harrison, TN

NeoandGeo

Member

.

They are still completely missing the point.

netwire
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Dallas, NC

netwire

Premium Member

Weak

VZW, your offers are still week. If you really want to knock AT&T out of the park you need to do better.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Weak

said by netwire:

VZW, your offers are still week. If you really want to knock AT&T out of the park you need to do better.
at&t overages = $503 per GB with the same 5 GB cap. I'd say Verizon wins that one.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon

Member

Re: Weak

Sprint wins. They have an overcharge (and far more 3G coverage than ATT) but they haven't enforced overcharges yet. Not on me anyway.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Weak

said by xenophon:

Sprint wins. They have an overcharge (and far more 3G coverage than ATT) but they haven't enforced overcharges yet. Not on me anyway.
Verizion's overages are in line with Sprint and Sprint doesn't have shit for 3G coverage. 95% of my state is covered with Verizon 3G maybe 10% with Sprint. Hell you can't even get Sprint cell service in my town.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Weak

Maybe Sprint never wanted TN?
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Weak

said by hottboiinnc4:

Maybe Sprint never wanted TN?
Yes go for LESS customers and that's why Sprint is a distant 3rd.
Big Dawg 23
join:2002-03-27
Northfield, MN

Big Dawg 23 to xenophon

Member

to xenophon
As already said Sprint does not want to piss off customers to have even more leave.

MxxCon
join:1999-11-19
Brooklyn, NY
ARRIS TM822
Actiontec MI424WR Rev. I

MxxCon

Member

Not enough even for Windows Updates

Those laptops will be selling with XP or Vista.
Since XP SP3 Microsoft released more than 250MB worth of updates.
Since Vista SP1 Microsoft released more than 250MB worth of updates. And Vista SP2 is coming out in a few weeks will be more than 250MB as well.

Why the hell would people buy these services when the provided plans are not enough to even keep your OS secure and up to date?!
I'm not even talking about regular day to day use.

•••

Hpower
join:2000-06-08
Canyon Country, CA

Hpower

Member

50MB to 250MB not bad but still small cap

50MB? Damn. What were they thinking? One youtube video and you're done.

jhacker
join:2001-12-11
Peoria, IL

jhacker

Member

What about phones?

Maybe VZW can use this opportunity to reduce the outrageous fees it charges for downloading applications on 'Get It Now', for example!! $2 per megabyte is totally outrageous!! It's the reason I have data usage blocked on all of our phones, even my own!!
ggultra2764
join:2007-09-13
Cambridge, NY

1 edit

ggultra2764

Member

Still Needs Some Tuning

If VZW wants to keep me after December of this year (since I'm still considering Millenicom), either they kill overage fees, get rid of throttling, and/ or raise their monthly cap to something more feasible since I can still milk through 5 GB in a month easily.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Still Needs Some Tuning

Here's teh problem: if MCom uses Verizon in your area, you get a soft 5GB cap instead of a hard one. After about 10GB they don't want you on their network anymore.

Chrono
@spcsdns.net

Chrono

Anon

Still too low of caps

If they would increase the 5GB cap to 10GB, I think anybody would be able to suffice with that.

That 250MB one is horrible though. And before that 50MB? I mean come on; a dial up user could go over that in a month.
trackdrew
join:2008-08-28
Columbia, MD

trackdrew

Member

Re: Still too low of caps

My dial-up can do that in less then 4 hours.

50 * 1024 / 60 / 60 / 4 (KBps) = 3.55 hours

Theoretical max of 53.3 kbps = 23985 KB max download per hour of dial-up, so ~ 23.4 MB per hour.

(For the record that comes out to almost 17 gigs in a 30 day month, a 10 gig cap would be a joke. this is the 21st century and 5 GB is the best we can do?)
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Still too low of caps

said by trackdrew:

My dial-up can do that in less then 4 hours.

50 * 1024 / 60 / 60 / 4 (KBps) = 3.55 hours

Theoretical max of 53.3 kbps = 23985 KB max download per hour of dial-up, so ~ 23.4 MB per hour.

(For the record that comes out to almost 17 gigs in a 30 day month, a 10 gig cap would be a joke. this is the 21st century and 5 GB is the best we can do?)
No reason why they can't have at least a 20 GB cap. 20 GB is 8 kbps over 30 days. Now if everyone using 8 kbps is going to overload the system then something is wrong.

instead of overage fees Verizon should do like satelite does and just throttle the speeds down to around dial-up. worst case scenario someone would use 36 GB a month. Big deal.

still too low
@nevada.edu

still too low

Anon

still too low

The overages are still too low, why would anyone purchase one of these laptops when 250 megs isn't even enough to cover MS updates?
B777300
join:2002-01-02

1 edit

B777300

Member

And i thought im being ripped off

US Data plans prices are ridiculous!
Even here in Israel i pay Orange $20/month for 5GB 3G\HSDPA data plan.
Cellcom, another 3G cellphone provider here sells unlimited for $30/month.