Verizon to drop Unlimited Data on 7/29, tiered pricing to follow?

[pc747]

Verizon could still have an option for unlimited data in the tiered pricing. Until they release any information on the plans there is no reason to freak out.

This ^

Tiered pricing is not a bad thing provided they still give us unlimited data plans for a reasonable price. Personally I won't pay more then $40/month for unlimited data.

I see a favorable tiered pricing scheme as something like this:

$10 - 250MB/month
$20 - 500MB/month
$30 - 2GB/month
$40 - Unlimited

I could easily move my wife to a $10 plan and bump myself to the unlimited plan and save $10 in the long run.

I would live that

they hit 11GB a month because they use Verizon as their ISP and probably stream movies lol...no chance a person who is just streaming pandora or GPS is going ANYWHERE near even 5gbs a month

Yeah, I was kinda shocked when I saw that I used 11gb.I also have my corporate email on all the time, so I don't know how much data that is using.

Well I am talking to vzw rep because I been checking my bill every other day. I have been noticing that I was being charged like 20 minutes but the number was my own. They believe its a glitch. I also noticed that it said I used 32540 KB and all I did was use pandora for about 15 minutes. Though I have unlimnited data I try to pay attention to the amount of data I use. I think we need to wait and see what vzw does. If they keey an unlimited plan similar to what skull one suggested then I am all for it. I think its just b.s. to get behind and sell these data hogs to then rip the unlimited plan from underneath people.
Now in all fairness the worker rep who is fixing my bill said she havent hear about it from her end; now that could be because they have to be hush hush about it, they have not heard about it, or its all just a big uproar about nothing.
I am not going to stress about speculation. I can not do any thing about yesterday or tomorrow, so I will concentrate all my energy on today.

 

[jsh1120]

As some one who sells Verizon phones / contracts as a third party i asked our rep about this. She is pretty sure this will be for new contracts only, like AT&T upgrades. It is only an equipment change and an extension of the existing contract.

right, but if you upgrade your phone then i'd assume you'd have to change right, since it's a new contract?

no an upgrade is just for equipment it is considered an extension of the current contract. Not that they couldn't change that at any time. But as with all the past changes I would be surprised to see them do that now.

Not necessarily. As already noted, when I went from a WinMo smartphone to the Droid some smartphones were classified as "available on my current plan" and others were not. VZW is free to make this distinction in whatever manner they choose.

 

[MWM]

I got my 1st smartphone, the Droid X, on 7/15, so I am on day 7. I feel like I'm on it all the time, but I've only used .12 GB. Obviously, I need to get busy

 

[jsh1120]

they hit 11GB a month because they use Verizon as their ISP and probably stream movies lol...no chance a person who is just streaming pandora or GPS is going ANYWHERE near even 5gbs a month

Yeah, I was kinda shocked when I saw that I used 11gb.I also have my corporate email on all the time, so I don't know how much data that is using.

Just a guess, but you might want to check your arithmetic. I have a suspicion you used 1.1 gigs, not 11 gigs.

 

[pc747]

1024KB=1MB and 1024MB=1GB. Therefore 1GB = 1,048,576KB
​

 

[jase]

even if verizon gets rid of the unlimited plan, they're top tier will be an amount that most (not all) NORMAL users will never eclipse. if they want to make money off the 1% that do, that's their prerogative (and their right, as we're using their network...)....it'll suck if the price of a so called "unlimited" plan goes higher, but again, they have a business for a reason...not to be nice to everyone and let them abuse their network...they have to make money too.

I also haven't seen anyone claim Verizon doesn't have a right to change to tiers. I think we all agree that they do.

But for many, the change will be to a product that is less satisfying.

Your favorite restaurant could change to using a lower grade of food ingredients in the dishes they prepare and sell. It would be their right to do it. They might even lower the prices a little. You could save a little money. And many people wouldn't notice the quality loss. Would you still be a satisfied customer if you got lower quality food for a cheaper price?

We all have different wants and needs from Verizon. No one plan fits everyone. You're gaining a plan that fits you better, we're (potentially) losing one that fits us better. As I mentioned before, not everyone who wants unlimited data abuses it, but we may still be crammed into a tiered plan anyway.

 

[TechJPC]

they hit 11GB a month because they use Verizon as their ISP and probably stream movies lol...no chance a person who is just streaming pandora or GPS is going ANYWHERE near even 5gbs a month

Yeah, I was kinda shocked when I saw that I used 11gb.I also have my corporate email on all the time, so I don't know how much data that is using.

Just a guess, but you might want to check your arithmetic. I have a suspicion you used 1.1 gigs, not 11 gigs.

Directly from my statement .... Megabyte Usage megabytes unlimited 11,613

 

[jsh1120]

I should have to worry about what I do on my phone for those two weeks so I don't go over for the rest of the month?

This is the key issue for me.

Very seldom have I topped 2gb for a month. I get pretty close fairly often, but seldom top it. On paper, I should be fine with a 2gb tier.

But, assuming it's like AT&T, $25 for 2gb... My new $5 savings is nowhere near enough savings to be excited about doing the mental math each day to figure whether I'm going squeeze in under the cap if I listen to Pandora a little more than usual, or stream some games or highlights from the new NFL app.

For some of us, unlimited data isn't really about having unlimited data... it's about not having to worry about carefully rationing our daily usage to make it to the end of the month.

We'll see. Depends what the tiers are. Lots of speculation, very few facts.

All of this worry about going over the limit is likely to be misplaced. The way the AT&T billing works is that as you near the 2 gig limit you're informed and are automatically charged for another gig once you go over. The additional monthly charge for gig is, as I recall, $5-$10.

You are free, of course, to have a much lower priced plan, but no one in their right mind would do so since the per mg charge above that limit is exorbitant.

I strongly suspect that VZW will adopt a similar "gig bucket" approach.

This won't help those who consumer double digit gigs per month. They'll still be paying for their use. (What a concept!) But for most users, occasionally going over the monthly limit will mean an additional $5-$10 for that particular month.

As for those hoping "save money," I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might want to consider purchasing. AT&T lowered their $30 "unlimited" plan to $25 for 2 gigs per month. I'm sure someone with a spreadsheet at AT&T figured out that the aggregate revenue would be a wash. The same will be true, I'm sure, at VZW. If you're a light data user, you might save $5 a month. Doubtful it will be more than that.

 

[czerdrill]

even if verizon gets rid of the unlimited plan, they're top tier will be an amount that most (not all) NORMAL users will never eclipse. if they want to make money off the 1% that do, that's their prerogative (and their right, as we're using their network...)....it'll suck if the price of a so called "unlimited" plan goes higher, but again, they have a business for a reason...not to be nice to everyone and let them abuse their network...they have to make money too.

I also haven't seen anyone claim Verizon doesn't have a right to change to tiers. I think we all agree that they do.

But for many, the change will be to a product that is less satisfying.

Your favorite restaurant could change to using a lower grade of food ingredients in the dishes they prepare and sell. It would be their right to do it. They might even lower the prices a little. You could save a little money. And many people wouldn't notice the quality loss. Would you still be a satisfied customer if you got lower quality food for a cheaper price?

We all have different wants and needs from Verizon. No one plan fits everyone. You're gaining a plan that fits you better, we're (potentially) losing one that fits us better. As I mentioned before, not everyone who wants unlimited data abuses it, but we may still be crammed into a tiered plan anyway.

the point is a business is going to do what's best for them and what's best for the consumer. your statement that "for many" the change will be less than satisfying is simply not true. for you yes but not for many. verizon has already stated that the bulk of their smartphone users use 600-800MB a month. AT&T said their users 98% use less than 2GB a month.

it sucks for you, but it definitely doesn't suck for "many". you have to understand that on these forums there are people who use data way more than the average user. so it might seem that "many" agree with you, but in the whole scheme of things, its simply not true. "Many" will be happy with having to pay less for less data because they use less than "unlimited" data.

that's just what it is. sorry.

 

[czerdrill]

I should have to worry about what I do on my phone for those two weeks so I don't go over for the rest of the month?

This is the key issue for me.

Very seldom have I topped 2gb for a month. I get pretty close fairly often, but seldom top it. On paper, I should be fine with a 2gb tier.

But, assuming it's like AT&T, $25 for 2gb... My new $5 savings is nowhere near enough savings to be excited about doing the mental math each day to figure whether I'm going squeeze in under the cap if I listen to Pandora a little more than usual, or stream some games or highlights from the new NFL app.

For some of us, unlimited data isn't really about having unlimited data... it's about not having to worry about carefully rationing our daily usage to make it to the end of the month.

We'll see. Depends what the tiers are. Lots of speculation, very few facts.

All of this worry about going over the limit is likely to be misplaced. The way the AT&T billing works is that as you near the 2 gig limit you're informed and are automatically charged for another gig once you go over. The additional monthly charge for gig is, as I recall, $5-$10.

You are free, of course, to have a much lower priced plan, but no one in their right mind would do so since the per mg charge above that limit is exorbitant.

I strongly suspect that VZW will adopt a similar "gig bucket" approach.

This won't help those who consumer double digit gigs per month. They'll still be paying for their use. (What a concept!) But for most users, occasionally going over the monthly limit will mean an additional $5-$10 for that particular month.

As for those hoping "save money," I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might want to consider purchasing. AT&T lowered their $30 "unlimited" plan to $25 for 2 gigs per month. I'm sure someone with a spreadsheet at AT&T figured out that the aggregate revenue would be a wash. The same will be true, I'm sure, at VZW. If you're a light data user, you might save $5 a month. Doubtful it will be more than that.

well i'm sure no one is expecting to save hundreds a month lol...savings are savings though regardless of how little they are

 

[pc747]

Last night I tethered the most I ever tethered (granted I did not nor do I download any torrents or big files) and I used 592138KB, which if my math is correct, is only a half a gb. So we may be getting hyped up over nothing.

 

[pc747]

Last Month I tethered the most I ever tethered (granted I did not nor do I download any torrents or big files) and I used 592138KB, which if my math is correct, is only a half a gb. So we may be getting hyped up over nothing.

Editing my post

 

[jase]

it sucks for you, but it definitely doesn't suck for "many". you have to understand that on these forums there are people who use data way more than the average user. so it might seem that "many" agree with you, but in the whole scheme of things, its simply not true. "Many" will be happy with having to pay less for less data because they use less than "unlimited" data.

"Many" is sort of an ambiguous term, and I think we have different definitions of it.

Out of the millions of data plan subscribers, even if only 1% are affected, that's tens of thousands. I'd consider that "many", although Verizon probably might not.

Verizon does what's best for Verizon. I do what's best for me. Verizon won't ever notice if I leave. They won't even care. But I notice when the plan changes, and I care. We'll each do what's best for ourselves. Different perspectives lead to different priorities.

 

[czerdrill]

it sucks for you, but it definitely doesn't suck for "many". you have to understand that on these forums there are people who use data way more than the average user. so it might seem that "many" agree with you, but in the whole scheme of things, its simply not true. "Many" will be happy with having to pay less for less data because they use less than "unlimited" data.

"Many" is sort of an ambiguous term, and I think we have different definitions of it.

Out of the millions of data plan subscribers, even if only 1% are affected, that's tens of thousands. I'd consider that "many", although Verizon probably might not.

Verizon does what's best for Verizon. I do what's best for me. Verizon won't ever notice if I leave. They won't even care. But I notice when the plan changes, and I care. We'll each do what's best for ourselves. Different perspectives lead to different priorities.

verizon doesn't consider that many and that's why they'd make a change like this...because to them "many" would appreciate it, and no matter how you look at it 99% is "many" more than 1%, ambiguous terminology or not...

 

[LostRacer]

Did anyone happen to realize the bigger picture in all of this? With a tiered plan offered now they can get MORE new people to sign up and get a smartphone without a cost worry. $30 a month may not seem like a lot to most of you but there are those that do things on a budget and an extra $30 may not be in their budget. With a tiered system they are now inviting those for a cheaper cost to experience what more smartphones have to offer than your standard phone. In turn you'll have more people upgrading and some new sign ups if the hardware is good.

I don't want to lose my unlimited, however when it comes time to upgrade my daughters phone I'll be more inclined to get her something she can go online with. Same with my son not too far later. Pricing plays a big part in how some people choose their phones and carrieers.