Verizon customers on the unlimited plan

[SpecialK]

Just a heads up, I was picking out a new phone last night and the sales guy confirmed the rumor about Verizon getting rid of all unlimited plans in July.

If you are currently on an unlimited plan with them, it will go away when you sign your next 2 year contract if you do it after July so if you are close to the end you may want to sign up for another 2 years soon or start looking at Sprint or AT&T.

[rundrave]

I thought we would be grandfathered in as long as we stay with a smart phone?

I was in a store last week but didn't upgrade, at the time the reps there didn't know all of the details yet.

[SpecialK]

That's what I thought as well. My cousin mentioned something to me about them getting rid of the grandfather clause so I asked the sales person. It made the decision to get the new phone a little easier.

[DTro]

This was announced a couple of weeks ago. I pretty much figured it was coming sooner than later since nothing is forever. They are also changing the data structure and it will be shared amongst the family members which should make tracking much easier.

Verizon Wireless will no longer be allowing customers on a grandfathered unlimited data plan to upgrade to a 4G LTE smartphone when the carrier launches its tiered data share plans in mid-summer. Executive Vice President and CFO Fran Shammo announced the news during an investors conference Wednesday morning. "LTE is our anchor point for data share, so as you come through an upgrade cycle and you upgrade in the future, you will have to go onto the data share plan, moving away from the unlimited world," he said. "So when you think about our 3G base — a lot of our 3G base is unlimited — as they start to migrate into 4G, they will have to come off of unlimited and go into the data share plan, and that's beneficial for us for many reasons, obviously."

Unlimited data is a concept that has been heading towards extinction for some time now, and Verizon's decision to no longer honor the plans with LTE-capable devices will only expedite the process. AT&T continues to honor grandfathered unlimited plans for 4G upgrades, and Sprint remains the lone major carrier that still allows new customers to sign up for the privilege. Verizon had already been making a clear distinction between LTE and its legacy 3G network, offering data-doubling promotions exclusively to those shopping for an 4G-capable handset.

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As you'd expect, Shammo touts the upcoming offerings as a better option for consumers and businesses alike. "If I can add as many devices as I want and share that data plan, that's a lot more efficient from a family share perspective, from a small business perspective," he said. "There is a large ramp of devices out there that, especially when you think about families, they're not connecting those devices because the incremental costs in the model we have today. And I think going forward, we're going to make it easier for folks to connect devices.

[rundrave]

so the question of the day is.....wait for the Motorola DROID RAZR HD to come out and risk losing my unlimited data or just go buy a RAZR MAXX for $199 with my $50 credit today and keep my unlimited data for another 2 years....

[DTro]

I would evaluate your usage and base your decision on that. Most people won't go over the 2GB limit and if you can get it doubled to 4GB that is pretty good.

This change is really geared toward those that are tethering and hogging data. Unless you are streaming HD video for an hour everyday, this won't be a huge deal. It IS a nice fuzzy feeling you get by having unlimited data though. I'm not pleased to see the change, but at the same time not overly upset.

Plus with the new plan my wife and I can share our data and she can use the my leftover as she doesn't use much.

[toughguy]

This won't stop at Wireless either. Look for limits on your wireline connections coming soon too. Google may have won the net neutrality war but we're going to be the ones that pay for it.

[PierBridge]

so the question of the day is.....wait for the Motorola DROID RAZR HD to come out and risk losing my unlimited data or just go buy a RAZR MAXX for $199 with my $50 credit today and keep my unlimited data for another 2 years....

Plus the $30 dollar activation fee and tax if you buy it over your phone or from a Verizon store.

I've tried a few different avenues to at least get the $30 waived but to no avail so far.

We are still looking at $200 for the most part with our discount for the Maxx as far as I can tell.

Not a bad deal for great phone I guess!

[harvey lee]

Verizon is getting to big. All the fees that once were free. I had an almost new phone my wife was going to activate but Verizon said no as this was a Alltel phone.

As they get larger and take more control of the market, most things will change and service will be lost.

[harvey lee]

Verizon is getting to big. All the fees that once were free. I had an almost new phone my wife was going to activate but Verizon said no as this was a Alltel phone.

As they get larger and take more control of the market, most things will change and service will be lost.

[LwnmwnMan2]

I guess after 13 years with Verizon, I will have to switch.

I just checked, my data cycle ends on 6/10 and I'm already at 5000 mb. I work 14 hour days in the summer and use Iheart, Pandora, MLB at Bat the whole time.

I have 2 unlimited phones on the account, so if we were to go to one shared plan, I would really be over.

[CAMAN]

I guess after 13 years with Verizon, I will have to switch.

Ditto...

[Matt C]

I've been with Verizon for 10+ years. On a family/dual phone plan. Wife has a 4g Droid, I still have the Droid X (3g)...Been on the unlimited plan forever.

We are both VERY heavy data users; found we are way under the 2 gig deal. We barely hit 1 gig (shared).

With today's phones, using wifi is a major player, and also is less 'data' on ther network you use.

I'll stay with the best. I prefer having phone coverage everywhere I go.

[CAMAN]

I've been with Verizon for 10+ years. On a family/dual phone plan. Wife has a 4g Droid, I still have the Droid X (3g)...Been on the unlimited plan forever.

We are both VERY heavy data users; found we are way under the 2 gig deal. We barely hit 1 gig (shared).

With today's phones, using wifi is a major player, and also is less 'data' on ther network you use.

I'll stay with the best. I prefer having phone coverage everywhere I go.

VERY heavy is no where near 1gb. I would be what is considered VERY heavy, frequently hitting 20gb. I don't have the luxury of wifi everywhere I go and am on 4g 99% of the time. I'm not about to drop $50+ more a month to get home internet just so I can lessen the bandwidth Verizon uses. I pay for an UNLIMITED plan I should be able to use unlimited data.

BTW... I pretty much made up my mind I was going to leave them after the cluster F they have made with the Galaxy Nexus. Seriously, the bug fix update of ICS has been out for 2 months now and they still haven't pushed it to their phones yet! I am getting sick of dropped calls and sketchy reception when every other VZW phone around me has perfect signal. There are threads upon threads on other forums proving VZW's incompetance regarding this phone and the lack of support they are choosing to give it.

[Kyhl]

When the press release came out a few weeks ago I thought it was a signal for the end of the companies growth. I think it is a dumb move for them.

I use 3 to 6Mb per month x2 phones and am not streaming movies yet. I planned to stream movies. I will be shopping for a new carrier when my unlimited contract runs out. VZ is trying to spin this as a win-win but I don't see it that way as a customer. It feels more like the netflix fiasco all over again where they decide to gouge their customers to the point of driving them away.

The reason I have been with VZ for 10 years is dependability and recently unlimited data. Take those away and I will look for alternatives, as I suspect many more will start doing as early as 7/1.

Not good.

[DTro]

Really? Almost a gig a day without tethering? Are streaming an entire movie everyday or what?

[toughguy]

I hate to tell you but leaving their network is what they want. Trust me carriers don't want data hogs on their network. Internet content is a commodity and it costs wireless carriers big $$$. If a carrier can get rid of the 2%-5% of users that tie up a substantial portion of their internet pipe they're more than happy to do it. All you can eat data was thought of in a world without streaming music and certainly without streaming/downloading movies. In a year or 2 this will be how all carriers do it - land line and wireless. The carrier that doesn't will be stuck with all the data hogs and will have to charge more anyways.

[CJH]

I hate to tell you but leaving their network is what they want. Trust me carriers don't want data hogs on their network. Internet content is a commodity and it costs wireless carriers big $$$. If a carrier can get rid of the 2%-5% of users that tie up a substantial portion of their internet pipe they're more than happy to do it. All you can eat data was thought of in a world without streaming music and certainly without streaming/downloading movies. In a year or 2 this will be how all carriers do it - land line and wireless. The carrier that doesn't will be stuck with all the data hogs and will have to charge more anyways.

^This. They are just the first.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Does anyone know if this is how data share works amongst phones?

If I have 4gb and my wife has 4 gb, we really have 8 gb of data to use on the plan? Meaning since I use 5-6 gb and my wife might use 1-2, that we can get by with 8 gb / month?

Or each phone stuck on its own 4gb?

[DTro]

I don't know the details other than it will be one shared bucket between the phones.

[SpecialK]

The way it sounds is that you would have both phones sharing the 4gb unless you have seperate plans. You wouldn't be able to use her unused bandwidth.

After this contract runs out in 2 years I'll probably switch to Sprint if they are still offering unlimited. The girlfriend lives in a small town and can't get dsl or cable. I won't pay for satelite as it's worse than dial up and dial up in the area is junk as well. She pays for hotspot coverage and so do I but I also tether the laptop at times using PDA net.

If I could get her dsl I would in a minute but at least she has some type of access.

[CAMAN]

Really? Almost a gig a day without tethering? Are streaming an entire movie everyday or what?

I do tether occasionally, but I also run Pandora, TuneIn, and 8tracks a lot. Also watch a lot of music videos on YouTube and just a bunch of internet surfing throughout the day in my downtime. Also use it a bunch for driving directions and scrolling through Google earth looking for new fishing spots. I also have a live wallpaper of the state weather radar that updates every 15 minutes, I'm sure that uses a half gb a month right there. Then emails, news, and weather updates constantly streaming into Widgets.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

After this contract runs out in 2 years I'll probably switch to Sprint if they are still offering unlimited

One can only assume that ALL carriers will eventually switch from unlimited data.

[Sand Burr]

Couldnt this be a win situation for some of us? I have 4 basic phones on my plan and have never even thought of giving them a data plan for each line because it is about a car payment! Problem has been that I am limited to the phones I can purchase and activate. If they go to a shared plan I can use any phone I want and block the data on the kids phones but yet they could use them for email and such at a lower cost. Am I on the right track here?

[CAMAN]

If they go to a shared plan I can use any phone I want and block the data on the kids phones but yet they could use them for email and such at a lower cost. Am I on the right track here?

No because Email uses data as well