Verizon Preps for Tiered Data Plans and New Family Plans (Maybe This Summer)

[dgstorm]

Earlier this week, Verizon revealed at Reuters Global Technology Summit that they may make an official announcement this summer regarding their switch to Tiered Data Plans. They also shared that they are working out some new Family Data Plans to make the transition away from unlimited data plans easier. Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo told the Reuters said,

We had individual minutes for individual users. Then we eventually got to what we call family share where everyone in the family shares the same minutes. I think it's safe to assume that at some point you are going to have mega-plans (for data) and people are going to share that mega-plan based on the number of devices within their family. That's just a logical progression.

Verizon was careful to keep the details and the time-frame vague, so we will keep a vigilant watch to keep you guys informed.

Source: Droid-Life and Reuters

 

[gmorgan056]

That might mean switching to 4G this summer before this happens. Hopefully they'll grandfather anyone that has the unlimited data plan.

 

[music life]

by the looks of it from the original post they will be transitioning people from unlimited to tiered. but not sure.

i really hope not.

 

[NeoandGeo]

Time to use as much data as possible before jumping ship.

 

[Beardface]

All unlimited data plans will be grandfathered til their end date once this goes live. I verified this through multiple sources before I upped with the TBolt. That was one of the major perks about going with the TBolt at the time, and one of their biggest selling points in the stores. Your unlimited 4G would be grandfathered in, kind of as a trade-off to being the "guinea pigs" of LTE, and the headaches that can come along with that.

They cannot change the terms of your contract after it has been agreed upon. At least not as drastically as this. They can throttle your usage, they can completely discontinue your services, but they cannot shift you from unlimited to a hard cap. That would be a fundamental change to a contract, and in order to do so, they would need the consent of both parties. They wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on, and it would be horrific PR if they didn't grandfather everyone's previous contracts.

However, once your contract is up, you are going to be tiered.

 

[silverfang77]

What will be the largest amount of bandwidth available for smartphone users?

 

[DroidxRage]

Hello Sprint... contract is up in June anyhow, and the evo3d is out in a week or so. Leave it to Verizon to be the last to the table with good hardware, and think they can just jack up prices.

The failboat has sailed...

 

[debdroid1a]

They cannot change the terms of your contract after it has been agreed upon. At least not as drastically as this. They can throttle your usage, they can completely discontinue your services, but they cannot shift you from unlimited to a hard cap. That would be a fundamental change to a contract, and in order to do so, they would need the consent of both parties. They wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on, and it would be horrific PR if they didn't grandfather everyone's previous contracts.

However, once your contract is up, you are going to be tiered.

Actually you signed a contract saying they can change their plan, their terms of contract. They're doing that with tethering (a whole nother thread). They put that in the contract so any changes can be made on their part without your agreeing to it. And no legal issues with them. They may send a notice saying what they're going to do and giving you options from there, but they don't have to.

However, I don't seem them chaning plans of those grandfathered in. Unless there's a problem. As eventually everyone will be in tiered data plans.

The only issue I see with tiered plans is the Cloud stuff coming. People won't be doing that when it costs more then buying a large hard drive for your computer. I personally like the Amazon Cloud music player with my cell phone. I also liked Pandora Radio. But if I have a tiered plan, I'll be going back to my MP3 player. This is why I don't use my internet at home as much as I would (my tethering expense is high enough without going over it).

 

[BigTex71]

I may be looking into the new Metro PCS everything family plans if Verizon cuts unlimited. I'll wait and give them the benefit of the doubt until this is rolled out, though.

 

[whiddles]

so time to get the tbolt then. not a fan of the charge. was waiting on bionic

 

[soulpatch]

But even if you get the thunderbolt or charge the next phone you get woudl change the plan as you resign a contract unless you buy them retail so I dont get the point in that advert for the grandfathered part of the plan. Sure you get unlimited for this year or two where as many will be on tiered but eventually you too will be switched over if you get subsidized phones.

 

[whiddles]

But even if you get the thunderbolt or charge the next phone you get woudl change the plan as you resign a contract unless you buy them retail so I dont get the point in that advert for the grandfathered part of the plan. Sure you get unlimited for this year or two where as many will be on tiered but eventually you too will be switched over if you get subsidized phones.

Yeah I know, but I can save a lot of money in two years. So the Key Word is EVENTUALLY lol untill then we'll see what happens. I would start buying them at retail maybe online for cheap

 

[soulpatch]

But even if you get the thunderbolt or charge the next phone you get woudl change the plan as you resign a contract unless you buy them retail so I dont get the point in that advert for the grandfathered part of the plan. Sure you get unlimited for this year or two where as many will be on tiered but eventually you too will be switched over if you get subsidized phones.

Yeah I know, but I can save a lot of money in two years. So the Key Word is EVENTUALLY lol untill then we'll see what happens. I would start buying them at retail maybe online for cheap

Without knowing the caps or costs one could also have run out and purchased an older tech phone just to get grandfathered in when it comes out that their usage and such woudl still break even with the tiered plans.

 

[Detonation]

Was planning on getting whatever was best before the tiered plans went into effect, but I'm thinking grandfathering in unlimited isn't going to be what we all hope it to be. I'm guessing they're just going to limit your speeds once you hit a certain amount. So yea, you'll never be charged extra for going over your cap, but you're still basically stuck with a "tiered" plan.

 

[loki993]

I know its Verizon, but its amazing how excited people get when they dont even know what the plans will be. Yeah theyre going to tired data, fine. It could end up being a good thing though, you never know.

Plus they said it may be announced by this summer, just announced and may, key words, so who really knows when it will actually go into effect.