[Updated] Verizon To Officially Reveal Tiered Data Plans July 7th; Plans Leaked Below

[rushmore]

OK. I may get flamed for this but i don't really care. This is what i was told yesterday at the Verizon store in Salisbury, MD.

"Sir, that only affects NEW customers. Current customers with unlimited data will be able to continue with that until they change THE DATA portion of their plan. Upgrades of devices after the tiered plans go into effect will not effect you at all. You will continue with your current unlimited data plan"

I then asked......"why would anyone change the data package?" "it's $30 for 2 GB or currently you have $30 for unlimited? That doesn't make sense?" I was then told that there would be lesser data packages to choose from. Though, he could not go into any more detail due to his superior approaching.

SO. How trustworthy is this VZW employee? We will have to see

If you work in a brick and mortar vzw center... you dont know anything until days prior to them making the change. They make crazier more inaccurate claims than most people here.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums

True, except for the corporate store managers. They will be trained on the new plans and customer response tactics one to two weeks prioir to the change.

 

[huskur]

To anyone who is royally peeved about this leaked announcement, don't voice your anger at Verizon.

Voice your anger towards the thousands of rooters who illegally tethered hundreds of thousands of GBs a month by running their home network through the Verizon data plan. Verizon didn't have to do this, but the incessant selfishness of the idiotic few completely forced their hands, and now we ALL have to pay for it.

So to you, the idiot abuser who streamed 200GB per month in data while using their phone as a router, PS3/XBox server, while downloading and uploading countless amounts of Torrents, I want to personally thank you for gouging our pockets in the future. You are awesome! Hope the Torrents of SpongeBob and the blazing speeds while playing Halo or Modern Warfare were totally worth it.

That's not why VZW did this. It may be *one of* the reasons that they will point to and help justify the new plans, but it is not WHY they are doing it.

They have a new 4G network to pay for. People are now streaming Netflix to their phones, and jumping on 4G because of the bandwidth capabilities, and VZW simply wants to capitalize on that.

It's greed, just like any other business. What will happen is that either people will just suck it up and pay it, or, the other carriers will still offer unlimited plans and VZW will see this backfire on them as they lose customers in droves.

It's not about tethering. It's about having new devices that hook people on the video streaming and bandwidth of those devices, and then gouging people to be able to use it.

you really believe customers are going to leave in droves? that these tiered plans are going to be the biggest mistake vzw makes and will lose tons of customers? haha...a little dramatic, don't you think? this will change nothing, in fact, VZW will probably become more profitable!

people have been saying they're going to leave for years, before smartphones were even popular. no one's going nowhere.

If i am unable to upgrade to a new device without being able to keep "unlimited data", I will be one that does leave or just give up the smartphone and go back to a standard phone and get a wifi only tablet for on the go. If I need to use "wifi" to keep my usage down i might as well do it on a tablet. We will see. I am still giving Verizon a chance. As i stated on post 175 of this thread, i was told that existing customers will not ever lose the "unlimited data" unless they make a "data plan change". Just as AT&T did for their customers. AT&T customers that had "unlimited" data still have it

 

[ldopa]

Just spoke with verizon and was assured that this would not affect my unlimited data as long as I didnt switch out of it. People get so paranoid and hyped up here, i enjoy reading it though :!

Droid 2 Liberty GB v0.8

 

[SquireSCA]

you really believe customers are going to leave in droves? that these tiered plans are going to be the biggest mistake vzw makes and will lose tons of customers? haha...a little dramatic, don't you think? this will change nothing, in fact, VZW will probably become more profitable!

people have been saying they're going to leave for years, before smartphones were even popular. no one's going nowhere.

When the tiers prevent them from doing what they want or need, yes.

So many people are now relying on phones for streaming YouTube, Netflix, surfing the web, streaming audio, etc... Not abusing it by tethering their PS3, but actually using their phone the way that VZW marketing and sold it to them, with unlimited data for a fair price.

And now VZW is going to jack up the price. If I was another carrier, I have a choice to make... Jump on board with the price gouging and try to rape my customer base by doubling or tripling the cost of what they have today, or, be the carrier that still offers unlimited for a fair price and lure more customers over with that.

2GB of data with 4G and video streaming is not much data. I use Netflix on my DX every night when I am at the gym and my usage trends went from:

Average of 183mb per month of data, to around 1.5GB of data.

That is just using Netflix for about 30 minutes, 3 nights a week. It isn't much.

I work from home and so 95% of my time is spent using Wifi. But when I go to the gym I do use Netflix while on the eliptical, and already I am pushing towards that 2GB limit.

It's BS. They put out phones that use more data, they encourage it, promote video streaming and all the things that go with the "smartphone experience", and then they triple the price overnight.

I think that as time goes forward, if one of the other carriers keeps unlimited data reasonable, yes, VZW will lost customers over this. Nobody wants a $200 a month phone bill for one phone line.

 

[rushmore]

This is the stupid thing they could do there the best right now and there about to lose so many people

no there not... every day a new group of people become eligible for upgrades. At the rate their rolling out LTE everyone with a smartphone will want an LTE phone. They'll gain customers and the few people that say "I'll shop elsewhere, will realize that they're still not better coverage and service and stay anyway" It's an internet forum not even remotely close to the real world. Lots of talk and no action...

This is why they are doing the changes and why their Android device efforts have been VERY weak. Why push out high margin phones, when the cna release mid-level devices for premium prices? They do no have to and to this point- have not.

 

[rushmore]

That's not why VZW did this. It may be *one of* the reasons that they will point to and help justify the new plans, but it is not WHY they are doing it.

They have a new 4G network to pay for. People are now streaming Netflix to their phones, and jumping on 4G because of the bandwidth capabilities, and VZW simply wants to capitalize on that.

It's greed, just like any other business. What will happen is that either people will just suck it up and pay it, or, the other carriers will still offer unlimited plans and VZW will see this backfire on them as they lose customers in droves.

It's not about tethering. It's about having new devices that hook people on the video streaming and bandwidth of those devices, and then gouging people to be able to use it.

you really believe customers are going to leave in droves? that these tiered plans are going to be the biggest mistake vzw makes and will lose tons of customers? haha...a little dramatic, don't you think? this will change nothing, in fact, VZW will probably become more profitable!

people have been saying they're going to leave for years, before smartphones were even popular. no one's going nowhere.

If i am unable to upgrade to a new device without being able to keep "unlimited data", I will be one that does leave or just give up the smartphone and go back to a standard phone and get a wifi only tablet for on the go. If I need to use "wifi" to keep my usage down i might as well do it on a tablet. We will see. I am still giving Verizon a chance. As i stated on post 175 of this thread, i was told that existing customers will not ever lose the "unlimited data" unless they make a "data plan change". Just as AT&T did for their customers. AT&T customers that had "unlimited" data still have it

I think the tablet OEMs are expecting this ias well, since there is a growth in 7" tablets and now a version of Honeycomb (3.2) that caters to this. This probably suits VZW fine, since less money out of thier pocket for phone margins and people are still paying $30 for 2gb of data.

The only way this would change is if the FCC gets involved, but government intervention tends to do more harm than good (due to lobby efforts and politcial agendas- of course).

 

[czerdrill]

you really believe customers are going to leave in droves? that these tiered plans are going to be the biggest mistake vzw makes and will lose tons of customers? haha...a little dramatic, don't you think? this will change nothing, in fact, VZW will probably become more profitable!

people have been saying they're going to leave for years, before smartphones were even popular. no one's going nowhere.

When the tiers prevent them from doing what they want or need, yes.

So many people are now relying on phones for streaming YouTube, Netflix, surfing the web, streaming audio, etc... Not abusing it by tethering their PS3, but actually using their phone the way that VZW marketing and sold it to them, with unlimited data for a fair price.

And now VZW is going to jack up the price. If I was another carrier, I have a choice to make... Jump on board with the price gouging and try to rape my customer base by doubling or tripling the cost of what they have today, or, be the carrier that still offers unlimited for a fair price and lure more customers over with that.

2GB of data with 4G and video streaming is not much data. I use Netflix on my DX every night when I am at the gym and my usage trends went from:

Average of 183mb per month of data, to around 1.5GB of data.

That is just using Netflix for about 30 minutes, 3 nights a week. It isn't much.

I work from home and so 95% of my time is spent using Wifi. But when I go to the gym I do use Netflix while on the eliptical, and already I am pushing towards that 2GB limit.

It's BS. They put out phones that use more data, they encourage it, promote video streaming and all the things that go with the "smartphone experience", and then they triple the price overnight.

I think that as time goes forward, if one of the other carriers keeps unlimited data reasonable, yes, VZW will lost customers over this. Nobody wants a $200 a month phone bill for one phone line.

Again I think you're putting way too much weight on what ppl on a forum say. Believe me verizon is in no danger of losing droves of customers....they're not te first company to do tiers and won't be the last. No way that millions of ppl are going to leave. That's a silly suggestion.

It might be bs (doesn't affect me either way so I don't care), but sorry this won't be the mistake that vzw wishes they never made nor are they going to backtrack after trying this for a couple months and go back to unlimited. Ppl get way too dramatic haha.

That being said, you might be able to keep your unlimited anyway. I think ppl should relax a little till vzw confirms this

 

[rushmore]

Sorry for all the typos. My multi-tasking skills are lacking.

 

[naknak95]

This is so freakin stupid! I use my phone data on the road everyday and now I can't??? Come on Verizon! This is going to be terrible for alot of people. They think this is going to make money??? They are going to lose customers. :icon_eek:

 

[huskur]

I don't think VZW is going to put the screws to its existing "valued" customers. We will be able to keep our "unlimited" data but like i said......if not......My option is to get a basic phone to make calls and text (yes i would miss the smartphone) but the mighty dollar means something with a family and 3 kids. So a wifi only tablet would be in my future and just leach off open wifi networks. Hopefully it doesn't come to that. Time will tell

 

[SquireSCA]

Again I think you're putting way too much weight on what ppl on a forum say. Believe me verizon is in no danger of losing droves of customers....they're not te first company to do tiers and won't be the last. No way that millions of ppl are going to leave. That's a silly suggestion.

It might be bs (doesn't affect me either way so I don't care), but sorry this won't be the mistake that vzw wishes they never made nor are they going to backtrack after trying this for a couple months and go back to unlimited. Ppl get way too dramatic haha.

That being said, you might be able to keep your unlimited anyway. I think ppl should relax a little till vzw confirms this

I know that I can keep mine, for now, but as far as new contracts go, what do you think will happen when one company offers unlimited data for $30, and the other charges $80 for 10GB?

You don't see a potential for large losses, or at least a decline in new contracts if you are the company charging so much more than anyone else?

More and more people are using phones for more than just phones. With Netflix coming to Android, data usage is going to jump and VZW is simply trying to capitalize on that. It will either cripple Netflix on this platform as people won't want to spend an extra $40 a month to use a $10 Netflix service, or, people will go to carriers with better priced data plans.

I don't see where this is good for the consumer, in any case.

 

[kodiak799]

I personally don't think Netflix will really take off on smartphones. Tablets, yes, and pc's they already have. But I think once the novelty wears off of "gee, cool I have netflix on my phone" most people aren't going to watch many movies worth seeing on a tiny screen.

There's a lot of stuff like that. While Pandora and other streaming music services are great, I still prefer my mp3's (and that is/was a large driver behind smartphones). And syncing dropbox, what's the point? Maybe once in a while as a back-up. Same with cloud services. The whole point, IMO, if storage on a phone is to be able to listen to music, browse photos, even watch a movie off-line. Maybe it is the future (distant future) when speeds are fast enough to have 0 lag to store everything in the cloud, but the problem remains places without a signal (like airplanes).

 

[kodiak799]

I called asking about this, and basically the 3g and 4g plans are different in the system because you need a SIM card for 4g, but switching from one to the other doesn't affect your contract.

So if I understand you correctly, all of us on unlimited currently can upgrade whenever, even after tiers, and since it has no impact on the contract (or, I assume, plans) we will continue to have unlimited.

The confusion here alone is probably enough that if the squeaky wheel squawks enough they will let you keep unlimited. "I was told I'd be able to keep unlimited if I waited for my upgrade..."

 

[kodiak799]

And the 800lb gorilla in the room no one is talking about is VoLTE in a few years. That will spike data usage while also probably significantly hurting VZW voice plans. So expect things to move in the direction of $70 for 5 gigs or so (i.e. $30 data plus $40 current voice plans).

 

[SquireSCA]

I dunno, I think that as they continue to make these screens better and better, that a surprising number of people will watch movies on a 4"-4.5" screen.

I do all the time, because I can carry the DX in my pocket all the time, and the same cannot be said for a tablet.

This is price gouging, there is no denying that. The fact that they will tier the data, and yet still charge $20 extra for tethering proves that.

When it was unlimited, they could make the argument that tethering and chewing up data was wrong. But if I am now forced to pay $30 for only 2GB of data, then I should be allowed to use it however I want. If I tether and chew up my data too fast, guess what, I am SOL and have to pony up for overage charges at $10 a GB.

But if I still use less than 1GB of data and that includes tethering, how can they continue to justify that with these capped plans?

They really are trying to take advantage of the situation, by trying to get you from every angle. If the plan is unlimited, yeah fine, charge for tethering. But if you are going to charge me top dollar for a very limited amount of data, I should be able to use it how I please.