Verizon Unveils 'Edge' Handset Upgrade Program Big Red Joins the Dubious Phone Payment Plan Party Thursday Jul 18 2013 14:20 EDT Tipped by IPPlanMan Speaking on their earnings conference call today, Verizon confirmed leaks suggesting that they will be following on the heels of AT&T and T-Mobile and launching their own frequent handset upgrade program in short order. Speaking to press and analysts, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo confirmed the program, and a subsequent company blog post confirmed that Edge will launch everywhere on August 25. Under Edge, users on Share Everything plans (so, so sorry, grandfathered unlimited users) can pay off new handsets over a twenty-four month period. Consumers can then upgrade to a new device once every six months, provided they have paid off 50% of their current phone. "There are no long-term service contracts, finance charges or upgrade fees with Verizon Edge," promises the company. As we've noted, carriers are running into a growth wall as new users become scarce and existing users, unwowed by the latest smartphone innovations, begin to upgrade their handsets less. Data this week from UBS indicated that handset upgrades are down 9% from last year, and are expected to sink further this year. Enter phone carriers, who would like to entice you with the latest shiny gadgets, even if you'll probably be paying more once all the dust settles. Carriers traditionally jack up the price of services in order to pay for phone subsidies. Here, no phone subsidies are being offered yet users will be paying the exact same amount for services -- effectively meaning you'll be paying twice for your shiny new phone. But really, who wants to think about that. Stare at the shiny new toys, kids! If you really want value, you're still probably better off shopping around for prepaid plans and selling your used devices yourself. If you're a grandfathered unlimited user who wants to retain your unlimited data, you're best off staying put. If you don't care about saving money and simply need the latest gadget to show off at the bar regardless of logic, these plans may just be for you. |
jack bGone Fishing MVM join:2000-09-08 Cape Cod |
jack b
MVM
2013-Jul-18 12:46 pm
Surprised...it took them so long to figure this out. Their "edge" is showing. | |
| | Hall MVM join:2000-04-28 Germantown, OH |
Hall
MVM
2013-Jul-18 2:09 pm
Re: Surprised...said by jack b:it took them so long to figure this out. Their "edge" is showing. I've told by a few people that VZW has always had the option to pay off your phone over the contract term, via monthly payments added to your bill. They clearly don't advertise this and no store or phone rep has ever mentioned it to me (didn't have a need to either as I never approached anything along the lines of how to pay for upgrades). | |
| | | Cheese Premium Member join:2003-10-26 Naples, FL |
Cheese
Premium Member
2013-Jul-22 1:14 pm
Re: Surprised...You can but it's a year, not the full 2, I checked into this recently as I wanted to see what it entailed. | |
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Lets Go
Member
2013-Jul-18 12:47 pm
Am I missing something?Why would you pay full price, even though you can pay it off over 24 months, if there is no break in the monthly charges? Doesn't make any sense. You can get the subsidized price and pay the same monthly charges. I understand that you will be locked into a new 2 year contract with subsidy but the extra money you are paying by buying the phone outright, even over 12-24 months, would more than pay the ETF to get out. Of course unless I am missing something... | |
| | ArrayListDevOps Premium Member join:2005-03-19 Mullica Hill, NJ |
Re: Am I missing something?no, you are not missing anything. Verizon offers no real incentive to buy a phone outright. Which makes sense since they make the most money by locking in a commitment. | |
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to Lets Go
said by Lets Go:Why would you pay full price, even though you can pay it off over 24 months, if there is no break in the monthly charges? Doesn't make any sense. You can get the subsidized price and pay the same monthly charges. I understand that you will be locked into a new 2 year contract with subsidy but the extra money you are paying by buying the phone outright, even over 12-24 months, would more than pay the ETF to get out. Of course unless I am missing something... I can think of two groups of people who would go for this: 1. People who want the latest and greatest phone but who aren't yet eligible for an upgrade. 2. People who break their phone and need a new one but aren't eligible for an upgrade. You're right, though, the terms are awful, since you don't get a break on your monthly bill for not taking the subsidized device, but, if you want or need a new phone right now and are afraid to go the eBay or Craigslist route, you're gonna have to pay full price, and spreading the payments over a couple of years is a lot less painful than paying it all at once. | |
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Re: Am I missing something?If you break your phone you are SOL unless you have insurance. This is not a get out of your contract for free deal... They won't let you out of a current contract to do this, you will have to pay the ETF. This is a reset the clock deal, and buy a new clock.
This is actually good for grandfathered because now these Edge people are paying the same (unsubsidized cost + subsidized rates) bloated rates without the unlimited...
Also if you are on this program, and break the phone they aren't going to take it back either without you dropping a few c notes into the VZW coffers. Already TMO smartphone "deductible" fee is $175, so even with insurance they are bending you over.
I feel bad for the suckers who sign up for this and get caught by all the trap doors... | |
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| 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
to Lets Go
said by Lets Go:Why would you pay full price, even though you can pay it off over 24 months, if there is no break in the monthly charges? Doesn't make any sense. You can get the subsidized price and pay the same monthly charges. I understand that you will be locked into a new 2 year contract with subsidy but the extra money you are paying by buying the phone outright, even over 12-24 months, would more than pay the ETF to get out. Of course unless I am missing something... Some people just don't want to be under contract. Those people's current option for getting a new phone is paying full price for a phone upfront. As is stands now they do not get a discount on their monthly rate anyway. So for someone who wants a new phone that is currently off contract but can't afford $650 this isn't a bad deal. | |
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mmay149q Premium Member join:2009-03-05 Dallas, TX |
mmay149q
Premium Member
2013-Jul-18 1:01 pm
What's odd about thisIs that they completely ignore people who are unlimited grandfathered, what I find kind of sad about this is that if you're grandfathered unlimited, more than likely you've had service with Verizon for at least a few years, wouldn't be surprised if most grandfathered were even 5 + year old customers, and Verizon's response to being a loyal customer for a long time? PUNISH you for having unlimited data.......
Now how in the world does this in anyway make sense? It doesn't at all, I for one will just keep doing what I do, which is go to the 3rd party kiosk in the mall (NOT A VERIZON COMPANY STORE) and having them go around the restrictions so I can continue getting cell phones every 6 months for $200 - $300 instead of $650 - $800. Only once I can no longer ever do this again will I then inform Verizon of my disconnect and discontinuation of them being my service provider, but then again Verizon has been on my nerves as of late, and their customer service seems to be going in the dumps....
-Matt | |
| | atuarreHere come the drums Premium Member join:2004-02-14 EC/SETX SWLA |
atuarre
Premium Member
2013-Jul-18 1:31 pm
Re: What's odd about thisThey ignore you cause they want you on the new plans. They don't care about how long you've been with them. I have a friend in OK that is on am unlimited grandfathered plan and he always talks about he downloads stuff on Lte just because he can. I'm sure Verizon wants those that are abusing the service to just leave. They haven't figured out a way to make you leave yet but I'm sure they are working on it. | |
| | | ArrayListDevOps Premium Member join:2005-03-19 Mullica Hill, NJ |
Re: What's odd about thisI'd be surprised if Verizon had no way to terminate their service of grandfathered users. | |
| | | | atuarreHere come the drums Premium Member join:2004-02-14 EC/SETX SWLA |
atuarre
Premium Member
2013-Jul-18 1:57 pm
Re: What's odd about thisUnless you are doing something illegal I don't think they do. I think att throttles them but Verizon doesn't on Lte, so I've heard. | |
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Re: What's odd about thisThey get prioritized on the towers if it's loaded, which is way more humane than the AT&T gestapo. | |
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delusion ftl to ArrayList
Anon
2013-Jul-18 2:10 pm
to ArrayList
If you're not under contract then they don't "owe" you anything and could simply terminate your data service or switch your data plan if you refused to change on your own. It's not really any different than them adding a new 2 dollar fee. Contract customers can complain and get a reprieve, non contract customers get to suck it up.
What keeps them is ATT and VZW are both waiting for each other to dump the grandfathered unlimited plans. They are always keeping lockstep with each-other and I think they are both waiting for the other to move.
Eventually the attrition will leave so few with grandfathered plans that they will do something. | |
| | | | | mmay149q Premium Member join:2009-03-05 Dallas, TX |
mmay149q
Premium Member
2013-Jul-18 2:41 pm
Re: What's odd about thissaid by delusion ftl :and could simply terminate your data service or switch your data plan if you refused to change on your own. And then since they changed the terms of service I could also completely cancel my plan without paying an ETF, which is exactly what I would do, people have choices, and allowing the company to "bully you" into being a customer is your choice, but if most people actually knew how things worked and voted with their wallets, half of this crap wouldn't even happen... Matt | |
| | | | | | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-18 5:57 pm
Re: What's odd about thissaid by mmay149q:said by delusion ftl :and could simply terminate your data service or switch your data plan if you refused to change on your own. And then since they changed the terms of service I could also completely cancel my plan without paying an ETF, Matt well since you wouldn't be under contract to begin with you could do that anyway whether they changed the terms or not. That's kind of the benefit of not being under contact. To leave whenever you want without penalty. | |
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delusion ftl to mmay149q
Anon
2013-Jul-18 2:10 pm
to mmay149q
They punish you because you will never leave them. And when I say never, I mean NEVER. 90% of VZW and ATT subs would stay with their carrier even if their rates tomorrow were jacked up 25%. Their customer service could go crappy. No one leaves verizon and ATT, their churn for the last 3-5 years shows that. And if you did leave verizon you'd have a 90% chance of choosing ATT, which prices and behaves just like Verizon.
In all seriousness what would it take for you to leave verizon? You already pay more than the other carriers (ATT being equal). So you don't stay because it saves you money. Is it worth the extra money to have coverage in places most people rarely if ever go? I understand that some consumers dont really have a choice, but 90% of the population in america have viable, reasonable choices. | |
| | | mmay149q Premium Member join:2009-03-05 Dallas, TX
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mmay149q
Premium Member
2013-Jul-18 2:42 pm
Re: What's odd about thissaid by delusion ftl :They punish you because you will never leave them. And when I say never, I mean NEVER. 90% of VZW and ATT subs would stay with their carrier even if their rates tomorrow were jacked up 25%. Their customer service could go crappy. No one leaves verizon and ATT, their churn for the last 3-5 years shows that. And if you did leave verizon you'd have a 90% chance of choosing ATT, which prices and behaves just like Verizon.
In all seriousness what would it take for you to leave verizon? You already pay more than the other carriers (ATT being equal). So you don't stay because it saves you money. Is it worth the extra money to have coverage in places most people rarely if ever go? I understand that some consumers dont really have a choice, but 90% of the population in america have viable, reasonable choices. I own a business, and my father is on my family plan who is retired and frequently travels, so I need good nation wide coverage, and as AT&T royally screwed me over and says I owe them $1,200 to get service again (Which I don't and their lying bastards) I won't go with them, plus T-Mobile and Sprint just don't have the coverage I need. Matt | |
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delusion ftl
Anon
2013-Jul-18 4:19 pm
Re: What's odd about thisAnd this is what I mean. You will never leave them. They know it, you're situation is not unique to them. Nearly all of their customers have "excuses" for reasons they stay. If they raised your rates 25% and took away your unlimited data where would you go? Nowhere, you'd stay, pay more and have fixed data pools. | |
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| | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
to delusion ftl
said by delusion ftl :In all seriousness what would it take for you to leave verizon? You already pay more than the other carriers (ATT being equal). So you don't stay because it saves you money. Is it worth the extra money to have coverage in places most people rarely if ever go? Seeing that T-mobile doesn't even have a sniff of service within 50 miles of me and though Sprint has coverage it tops at at 3G and their coverage is the worst of the 3 in my area. Places just a few miles away( where yes I actually do go to ) are roaming with Sprint. I'll stick with Verizon. Verizon is premium service. People need to get that. Too many people want Mercedes at the price of a Kia or buy a Kia and want to know why it's not as good as a Mercedes. If T-Mobile charged $10 a month more they'd have $5 billion a year more to invest in infrastructure and they could actually cover the 35% of America they currently ignore. | |
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| N3OGHYo Soy Col. "Bat" Guano Premium Member join:2003-11-11 Philly burbs |
to mmay149q
said by mmay149q:Now how in the world does this in anyway make sense? It doesn't at all, I for one will just keep doing what I do, which is go to the 3rd party kiosk in the mall (NOT A VERIZON COMPANY STORE) and having them go around the restrictions so I can continue getting cell phones every 6 months for $200 - $300 instead of $650 - $800. Only once I can no longer ever do this again will I then inform Verizon of my disconnect and discontinuation of them being my service provider, but then again Verizon has been on my nerves as of late, and their customer service seems to be going in the dumps....
-Matt How does that work? It's something I never tried, and am interested in the what's & hows. I'm a current VZW customer who's "eligible" for an upgrade next week (old plan, upgrade after a year & a half in). Not sure if I'm going to upgrade or not just yet. Thanks up front for the info.... | |
| | | mmay149q Premium Member join:2009-03-05 Dallas, TX |
mmay149q
Premium Member
2013-Jul-18 4:34 pm
Re: What's odd about thissaid by N3OGH:said by mmay149q:Now how in the world does this in anyway make sense? It doesn't at all, I for one will just keep doing what I do, which is go to the 3rd party kiosk in the mall (NOT A VERIZON COMPANY STORE) and having them go around the restrictions so I can continue getting cell phones every 6 months for $200 - $300 instead of $650 - $800. Only once I can no longer ever do this again will I then inform Verizon of my disconnect and discontinuation of them being my service provider, but then again Verizon has been on my nerves as of late, and their customer service seems to be going in the dumps....
-Matt How does that work? It's something I never tried, and am interested in the what's & hows. I'm a current VZW customer who's "eligible" for an upgrade next week (old plan, upgrade after a year & a half in). Not sure if I'm going to upgrade or not just yet. Thanks up front for the info.... Pretty much you go to a third party reseller, like the kiosk's in malls, Sam's, or etc, and then when they tell you that you have to get rid of unlimited just ask for your phone back (MAKE SURE that you ask them ahead of any changes about losing unlimited, cause I think once they do it you're screwed) usually they'll crack under the pressure of selling you a new phone because they work off commission to the best of my knowledge. Sometimes they'll do it, sometimes they won't. Usually what they do is add the new phone to your plan like you're adding a line, and then swap the phone from that line to your main line, which is how you get around the whole "You have to get rid of unlimited" On my plan I have a 3rd line that isn't used by anyone, so that's how I get away with it, I ask for the discount on that line, and then once they complete that, I ask them to move the new phone to my main line, and ask if doing so will cause me to lose my unlimited data, if they say yes I usually tell them to give me my old phone back and start walking off, which is what causes them to usually do it for me. Also, just note that usually doing it this way requires they renew your 2 year contract, so if you only have 1 year left, be prepared to get 2 years added, it's how they have to get around it and etc, so if for whatever reason you're looking to leave VZW you'll have that stuck on you for 2 more years Matt | |
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Sounds great...I'll probably take advantage of this in Sept. A lot of great phones are coming out this fall. | |
| | ArrayListDevOps Premium Member join:2005-03-19 Mullica Hill, NJ |
Re: Sounds great...Verizons selection of phones has been mediocre lately. | |
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Re: Sounds great...I wonder why though!?!? They don't even carry the HTC One. | |
| | | | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-19 2:15 am
Re: Sounds great...2 weeks. Perhaps Verizon rather have waited so HTC could make a version that would support LTE over AWS? No doubt the same ones complaining it didn't come out in April like the other carriers would be the first ones complaining that their shinny new HTC One didn't support AWS if it had come out in April. No pleasing some people. Seriously if you live in a congested area like NYC which will have AWS over LTE in 5 months or less and you have a choice between a Galaxy S4 which supports AWS and a HTC One which doesn't which one are you going to buy? | |
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Wow...I think this is just hilarious...People who do this are folks who throw money away. People on Share Everything already got fleeced by giving up unlimited data (yes Share Everything folks...you did!) Now they are going to get even more fleeced by paying full retail over 24 months and why? So that they can have the latest and greatest every 6 months?
Talk about a sucker being born every minute...lmao. I'm sure there will be another Share Everything guy that will say how this is better than sliced bread, just like in the other Verizon Edge article. I look forward to the laugh. :-D | |
| | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-18 7:05 pm
Re: Wow...I think this is just hilarious...said by BB4Life:People who do this are folks who throw money away. People on Share Everything already got fleeced by giving up unlimited data (yes Share Everything folks...you did!) A) New customers have to take Share Everything. B) New customers or those that didn't already have unlimited data before July 7th 2011 could not get it. You assume everyone that had a data plan before last year had unlimited data when the truth is less than half actually did. In fact only about 25%( at most ) of all Verizon customers had unlimited data plans before Share Everything started. So someone that joined Verizon on July 8th 2011 or upgraded to a smartphone on July 8th 2011 did NOT have an option to get unlimited data. They were put on a tier data plan which was and still is 2 GB for $30 on the old Nationwide plans. C) Share Everything saves money for some not others and others it's a wash. To blindly say Share Everything cost more is obtuse. Example Old plan - 2 smartphones 700 minutes, unlimited texting and two 2 GB data plans $160 Share Everything - 2 smartphones, unlimited minutes, unlimited texting 4 GB shared data $150. In fact for $160 I can get 6 GB of data. 50% more data than what I was paying before under the old plans for the same cost. | |
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Re: Wow...I think this is just hilarious...First of all, I call BS on your 25% of all VZW customers (that had a smartphone and data...not those with basic phones) had unlimited. You're gonna have to back that up. Second, yes, I was directing my disdain of the Share Everything plan to those who HAD unlimited data, but gave it up so they could get an iPhone. I know people who did that. Then these same people attempt to minimize the unlimited data because they can no longer get it (unless they get an "assumption of liability" line... ) But this Verizon Edge deal really is a horrible deal for Share Everything customer. You are going to pay full price of a phone JUST so you can be on the latest? Shoot, I had my Droid Charge for two years. Battery life sucks, but I was able to wait the whole two years for the next phone. I am considering a Note II, a S4 OR the Note III when that comes out. All Samsung phones, but I like their features. I qualify for that Device Plan where I pay $24 extra for a phone, but I pay that monthly AND I don't lose my unlimited data. In all seriousness, this VZ Edge is NOT a good deal though. | |
| | | | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-19 2:08 am
Re: Wow...I think this is just hilarious...said by BB4Life:First of all, I call BS on your 25% of all VZW customers (that had a smartphone and data...not those with basic phones) had unlimited. You're gonna have to back that up. As I said Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers or current customers that didn't already of a unlimited data plan July 7th 2011. Basically right at the start of the 3 quarter of 2011. Ok so according to Verizon at that time 36% of their 89.7 million customers had a smartphone. That's 32.3 million. Now not everyone with smartphone had an unlimited data plan. Most did. I didn't, I had a $15 plan for 150 MB in 2011. But for the sake of argument let's assume 100% did. Now Verizon has 94.3 million customers. Now if you were to assume 100% of those 32.3 million unlimited data plan customers in 2011 are actually still with Verizon and still have unlimited data that's 34% of current customers with unlimited data. But as we know not all 32.3 had unlimited data. And we certainly know that some of those customers would have left in the last 2 years and some would have given up unlimited data. So I think my 25% comment is being generous. Take it a step further. If you assume those 32.3 million had the same churn rate as the rest of Verizon customers those numbers would be down to 30 million by now. Like I said not all of them had unlimited data, but's let's say 95% did. Ok so that's 28.5 million. And let's say 95% of them have decided to keep unlimited data. That's 27 million unlimited data customers today. And that's be VERY generous. I suspect it could be as low as 20 million. Here are some more facts. Maybe about 30% of all phones on Verizon network are 4G yet 60% of all data on Verizon networks is 4G. That's a problem. Just 6 months ago it was 50%. What's going to happen when 50% of phones are 4G? 60%, 70%, 80%? It's not unreasonable to assume that 40%-50% of the phones on the 4G network have unlimited data. It's also not unreasonable to assume if you got rid of unlimited data that that 60% data use would drop like a rock. Second, yes, I was directing my disdain of the Share Everything plan to those who HAD unlimited data, but gave it up so they could get an iPhone. I know people who did that. Then these same people attempt to minimize the unlimited data because they can no longer get it (unless they get an "assumption of liability" line... ) Actually you do NOT have to switch to Share Everything to upgrade. You can stay on the old Nationwide plans. The only thing you couldn't do and keep unlimited was get a subsidized upgrade. If you want a shiny new Iphone you have to pay full price. Kind of like you have to do with T-Mobile. But when T-mobile makes you pay full price for an iPhone and unlimited data it's called a good idea and ground breaking. When Verizon does it they are evil. Ok. whatever. But this Verizon Edge deal really is a horrible deal for Share Everything customer. You are going to pay full price of a phone JUST so you can be on the latest? If one wants to be month to month and disdains contracts their current option is to pay full price for a new phone. Discounted phones are only available with a 2 year contract. This Edge plan doesn't change anything except the fact that person doesn't have to come up with $600 or more upfront all at once. I'm not sure what the issue is? This is not forced, it doesn't cost extra( unlike T-Mobile ). If you don't like it don't use it. If someone else chooses to use it then it's really not any of your concern. It doesn't affect you. | |
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Re: Wow...I think this is just hilarious...said by 88615298:And let's say 95% of them have decided to keep unlimited data. That's 27 million unlimited data customers today. And that's be VERY generous. I suspect it could be as low as 20 million. Let's go with your lowball of 20 million people having unlimited data. That's ALOT of people enjoying sweet unlimited data on what is, undeniably, the best LTE network in the country. (I concede that that statement is based on anecdotal evidence, but I am sure that others can and will back that up with hard facts.) The rest of the folks are either new customers or folks who switched to Share Everything so that they can upgrade to a new phone WITH A SUBSIDY! Speaking of which... said by 88615298:Actually you do NOT have to switch to Share Everything to upgrade. You can stay on the old Nationwide plans. The only thing you couldn't do and keep unlimited was get a subsidized upgrade. If you want a shiny new Iphone you have to pay full price. Kind of like you have to do with T-Mobile. But when T-mobile makes you pay full price for an iPhone and unlimited data it's called a good idea and ground breaking. When Verizon does it they are evil. Ok. whatever. I like how you use semantics. I was under the impression that it was understood that I meant that some folks felt it was important to keep a subsidized upgrade rather than keep unlimited data. Those were the people I was talking about. Also, let it be clear that as a former T-Mobile customer, I could not care less about what their business model is. They have "unlimited data" but they are gonna throttle you to a crawl after you use so many GBs a month? Verizon doesn't do that. Sprint doesn't either, though Sprint is also garbage. (My nephew has a Sprint MiFi and that thing was just horrible when we were in Atlanta. Verizon, of course, was never a problem.) said by 88615298:If one wants to be month to month and disdains contracts their current option is to pay full price for a new phone. Discounted phones are only available with a 2 year contract. This Edge plan doesn't change anything except the fact that person doesn't have to come up with $600 or more upfront all at once. I'm not sure what the issue is? This is not forced, it doesn't cost extra( unlike T-Mobile ). If you don't like it don't use it. If someone else chooses to use it then it's really not any of your concern. It doesn't affect you. I wonder what the cost analysis is of doing the Edge vs taking a 2 year contract to get a new subsidy? If you are going to stay with VZ anyway, then I would think that a 2 year contract would make better sense, right (regardless if folks wanted to get hooked on a contract or not.) As for people like me who would have to pay full price to upgrade a phone, I have no problem doing that VZ deal where I pay monthly for 12 months and pay $24 for the privilege. Only reason I haven't is because I don't know which phone I want (Note II, S4 or maybe wait for Note III) | |
| | | | | SeleniaGentoo Convert Premium Member join:2006-09-22 Fort Smith, AR |
to 88615298
Ok BF69. Talk about spinning this in Verizon's favor to slam the smaller carriers. I was with you on your math about how many VZ dropping unlimited data affects.
Let's do some math of my own. What does the average customer pay for prepaid? About $40-70 a month and buy their phones up front. Share everything on 1 device for 2 GB on VZW is $100 plus taxes and fees. On T-Mobile, postpaid plans cost the same as that figure I gave still with unlimited everything. At $50 they throttle at 500MB at $60 they throttle at 2.5GB and at $70 they never throttle no matter how much you use, but you can use as much as you want with 256kbps speed with the $50 plan, which is more than adequate for a well setup smartphone(which also saves data for you Verizon customers).
Now with Verizon, you are paying that subsidized price of $100 or more per month with taxes and fees whether you upgrade or not(for 2 GB LOL). T-Mobile will tack on $20 or so to that $50-70 until the handset is paid off. Then you are paying equal to the prepaid rate. Now Verizon will tack on that same financing fee to what is already the rate for those using subsidized handsets. Sure, it will also stop when the handset is paid off, but you are still paying over $100 for a paltry 2GB of data after the phone is totally paid off!!
Want more data? Enjoy your over $200 phone bill. I will enjoy my unlimited $50 T-Mobile plan for which I buy recent model phones with something minor broken(maybe nothing at all when I get lucky) that I can fix for under $100 including purchase and repairs and consume all I want. No finance fees, no smoke and mirrors, no bs. Just $50/month. Sure you can do that with capped data for Verizon, but you better be looking at prepaid(which most their phones don't compare to the unlocked/T-mobile(yes, their former contract phones work just fine by simp-ly inserting a prepaid SIM card) GSM phones I tend to find, especially for the prices I buy them at).
I am sorry you don't get T-Mobile service where you are, but for those of us it works for, it is great! You could likely try a similar trick with AT&T prepaid and unlocked GSM phones with limited data, but you will only pay about $65/month. Still better than up to a few devices on share everything, especially considering they will not be sharing the same 2-3 GB. If you buy more on share everything, that price will just climb over the figures I gave you for the extra(but not unlimited) data that is shared between the devices. So my 2GB example would have an access fee tacked on for 2 devices then each device would effectively only have 1GB each. What a deal!! | |
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DontGetBuste to 88615298
Anon
2013-Jul-18 9:55 pm
to 88615298
said by 88615298:B) New customers or those that didn't already have unlimited data before July 7th 2011 could not get it. You assume everyone that had a data plan before last year had unlimited data when the truth is less than half actually did. In fact only about 25%( at most ) of all Verizon customers had unlimited data plans before Share Everything started. So someone that joined Verizon on July 8th 2011 or upgraded to a smartphone on July 8th 2011 did NOT have an option to get unlimited data. They were put on a tier data plan which was and still is 2 GB for $30 on the old Nationwide plans. If you know the right people, and you're not on share unlimited everything, you can still get put on an unlimited data plan for just under $30/mo. | |
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IPPlanManHoly Cable Modem Batman join:2000-09-20 Washington, DC |
The ultimate truth...One thing you can count on from Verizon...
They'll never actually do something that will save you money...
If they accidentally do so, they'll keep trying to undo it. | |
| IPPlanMan |
Next, Jump, Edge....All 4 letter words...
AT&T: Next T-Mobile: Jump Verizon: Edge
My four letter response: NOPE
Sprint.... Hmmm... what could they come up with for a similar program?: Wait | |
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Os
Member
2013-Jul-18 3:01 pm
Phone UpgradesWhat Karl doesn't mention here is that phone upgrades have declined while carriers have made the terms longer to do so, and have made it harder.
Aren't they sort of biting the hand that feeds? What incentive are they giving customers to upgrade when there's nothing that new or exciting, and everyone's got one?
The gravy train is ending as the market matures. | |
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No more payment plans!Everybody should pay for their phone in full rather than these "payment plans". Maybe then some users would realize what the devices really cost and stop buying them. | |
| | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-18 6:01 pm
Re: No more payment plans!said by mlcarson:Everybody should pay for their phone in full rather than these "payment plans". Maybe then some users would realize what the devices really cost and stop buying them. it seems this payment plan would be better at letting people know how much advice really costs over a subsidy. because many people think a $650 only costs $200. | |
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Makes no sense!Verizon's and AT&T's scheme DO NOT MAKE SENSE !!!
They have the phone subsidy already baked in with their rates, so these plans without lowering the monthly plan payments makes no sense.
The only one that makes sense is T-Mobile because they removed the phone subsidy from their plans... | |
| | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-18 5:59 pm
Re: Makes no sense!said by Grothendieck:Verizon's and AT&T's scheme DO NOT MAKE SENSE !!!
They have the phone subsidy already baked in with their rates, so these plans without lowering the monthly plan payments makes no sense.
The only one that makes sense is T-Mobile because they removed the phone subsidy from their plans... Currently if you are on month to month like a lot of people you don't get a discount on your monthly rate anyway. This plan allows you to get a new $650 phone for $27 upfront( with no finance charge ) instead of $650 which many people will find appealing. | |
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Yeah well that's wonderful, but.....So right now you can buy a smartphone on T-Mobile for $150. Outright. The problem these carriers have is emerging markets, who can and will only pay so much for either the phones or the service. Sure we might talk about Android's dominance with eight billion apps (20 of which are good) but most people with the phones are on how many iterations back of the OS? I mean it's all fine and good if you want to spend $600 on a phone (trading a two year contract paying $120 a month to get the phone for $99) but new consumers aren't going to. So they have the same dilemma by and large, which is their overpriced plans, overpriced phones, and terrible customer service. $99 phones and what sort of plans are in the future to draw in new customers worldwide. | |
| | 88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-18 6:02 pm
Re: Yeah well that's wonderful, but.....said by rstuckey:So right now you can buy a smartphone on T-Mobile for $150. Outright. Which phone would that be? | |
| | | QLR join:2009-06-23 Tallahassee, FL |
QLR
Member
2013-Jul-21 11:32 pm
Re: Yeah well that's wonderful, but.....The Nokia Lumia 521 is selling $130 to $150 depending on merchant | |
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88615298 (banned) join:2004-07-28 West Tenness |
88615298 (banned)
Member
2013-Jul-18 6:14 pm
Not a bad deal for those whoAre already on month to month or want to be month to month and don't want or can't shell out full price for a new phone upfront and either
A) Do not have unlimited data or don't care about losing it
or
B) Are on a Share Everything plan or don't mind being on it | |
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