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

[ChugIt]

This subject is ran into the core of the Earth. Remain patient, some of you just might be SAVING money once this happens. Only big bandwidth users like myself are going to be effected. Also, you will be grandfathered in until you upgrade. If you plan on keeping the phone you have (which I am) for a while quit worrying.

 

[NVash]

I saw a guy using an Ipad up in a marina in Canada the other day. It was a 3G model but he did not have a data plan and said he only uses it on WiFi. He got the 3G model for the GPS. He purchased a 25 dollar marine nav program that gave him all the charts from the middle of Oregon up through BC, Canada. He was using it to navigate his boat, email, read book etc etc. Nice screen!!!

We need a smart phone with WiFi that does not require a 3g data plan!!!! I wonder what VZ would do after your contract date if you marched in and said, cancel my data plan!

Chris

The iPad, if anything like the iTouch, is junk. It does have a nice screen as does the iTouch. But the problem is you dont always have WiFi wherever you go. When I was in college, before I got my Droid, I was always using my iTouch and it would rarely ever pick up WiFi connections. Youd be surprised at where it would and would not pick it up. And another thing, just about every network is either password protected or you cannot connect for some odd reason. Its the most annoying thing seen.

The idea of a smart phone that only does WiFi is a horrible idea IMHO. Remembering my experiences with the iTouch have greatly turned me off to it, not to mention my own experiences with my laptop. They have a WiFi scanner on the Droid which I used to have but barely ever used. Im glad that this phone has its own internet connection so Im not running around hoping someone has WiFi that isnt password protected. Trust me, that mess gets old quick.

And the last part about cancelling the Data Plan, I dont know much about this but I do know when I bought this phone they said that you have to have the Plan. So I dont think itll go over too well.

 

[jsh1120]

...
We need a smart phone with WiFi that does not require a 3g data plan!!!! I wonder what VZ would do after your contract date if you marched in and said, cancel my data plan!

Chris

This is somewhat off-topic but here's a mirror image situation. I've had a separate broadband access account with VZW for a number of years. I've needed it because when I travel on business I have to have something close to a guaranteed internet connection for my laptop. It runs $60 per month with "unlimited" (i.e. 5gig maximum) access.

When I purchased my Droid I considered dropping the mobile broadband account in favor of tethering. Didn't do so for several reasons including the payoff I would have been required to make on the great little HP311 netbook that VZW had given me for $99.

I'm now to the point where dropping the broadband access account makes sense financially. But rather than tether the netbook to my Droid, I'm simply opening an account with Sprint for their 3G/4G network. This runs $10 a month more than the $60 per month I pay VZW but it provides access speeds comparable to the best wifi connection I can get in a hotel and the access is truly "unlimited." In return Sprint provides a new usb 3G/4G antenna connection that would otherwise sell for $199.

 

[MrC1122]

I think a lot of you are getting your dander up prematurely. According to VZW, "if you have unlimited access now, you will continue to have it as you are grandfathered in. You can even upgrade and not loose your gf status. The only thing that affects your status is changing your calling plan." I was given this info straight from VZW not 15 min. ago from several reps...so calm down and relax.

 

[kodiak799]

The only thing that affects your status is changing your calling plan." I was given this info straight from VZW not 15 min. ago from several reps...so calm down and relax.

Sneaky bistards! Depending on business need, I've gone back and forth on various calling plans. Guess it's time to revisit VoIP and get that working so I can default back to the min calling plan. I'm not about to get stuck on unlimited minutes just to keep unlimited data (which, truthfully, I don't really need). Then again, the option is only appealing to tether and replace home broadband which technically is stealing, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

 

[Nominchul]

PS3 Controller on Droid X!

Im unable to make a new thread but I just figured out how to capture my PS3 controller with my droid X. Only problem is that it now asks for the pin when pairing. Ive tried all the typical pins (0000, 1234) but it just keeps saying "pairing" and times out. Perhaps I need a driver for it? Suggestions, plz

 

[ChugIt]

Then again, the option is only appealing to tether and replace home broadband which technically is stealing, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

I strongly disagree. Just because they charge for tethering don't mean it is right. I can get fios to my home and download a terabyte in a month without issue. The towers miraculously need me to pay more? They have enough money and resources that it doesn't really matter if I use 200MB or 50GB on my Droid. I pay MORE money for less bandwidth on my cell than a home internet connection with truly unlimited (verizon fios, yes it is unlimited and they care less how much you use). Just because they charge for it and I do it against their policy doesn't mean I am stealing. The only stealing I see is them making me pay an arm and a leg for my cell data vs. good prices for a home line.

I don't care personally, I will tether all I want and if I need to pay more I will. I don't LIKE it, but oh well. I'm fortunate enough to be financially stable so whatever they do, I don't care. I'm not leaving Verizon because I love their coverage. Every major corporation in the world is evil and greedy. You either use their services and pay or you don't. Prices go up, it is a fact of life. When I was a kid my mother paid $30 a month for all of the cable channels offered. Now it is what, $160 a month? Get over it or go to Sprint (who will follow suit eventually anyways).

:work1:

 

[kodiak799]

Just because they charge for it and I do it against their policy doesn't mean I am stealing.

No, that's pretty much the definition of stealing. I don't care how you justify it.

 

[ChugIt]

I don't need to justify it. Even if I did consider it stealing I wouldn't care. I pay them enough of my money and I will continue to tether. If they charge me more oh well.

 

[NeoandGeo]

In my opinion they are stealing from us by charging for texts, when they cost literally nothing to them.

 

[Vulcan1600]

In my opinion they are stealing from us by charging for texts, when they cost literally nothing to them.

I feel McDonalds is stealing from us when that $1.29 large Coke costs maybe 2 cents to put into the cup.

 

[christim]

Sometimes it isn't what something costs another to produce, it is what others are willing to pay to consume. That's how business works. If you are selling a commodity (the same thing everyone else is selling) you can't charge more for it than others. If you add that something extra, some premium feature, then you get to charge a premium price. Even if it costs the same to produce, you get to make more money. That's how the system works.

So...even if texting cost them nothing it obviously is worth something to all the people I see texting all day long all around me. Speaking of which, that does have to add up and use bandwidth so it is costing someone something.

 

[hookbill]

The funny part about this thread is this will not happen on 7/29 like the title of the thread says. It may happen sometime but it won't be July 29. As a long time Verizon customer I've never seen them change the policy without so much as a months warning.

So can we start a new thread saying Verizon to Drop Unlimited data to 8/31? 9/30? Bueller? Bueller?

 

[wuyanks]

The funny part about this thread is this will not happen on 7/29 like the title of the thread says. It may happen sometime but it won't be July 29. As a long time Verizon customer I've never seen them change the policy without so much as a months warning.

So can we start a new thread saying Verizon to Drop Unlimited data to 8/31? 9/30? Bueller? Bueller?

seems like the Engadget tip as a bit off...

Verizon's CFO basically denied the switch, until 4G rollout:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-news/62938-verizon-cfo-no-rush-tiered-data-plans.html

 

[MrC1122]

The funny part about this thread is this will not happen on 7/29 like the title of the thread says. It may happen sometime but it won't be July 29. As a long time Verizon customer I've never seen them change the policy without so much as a months warning.

+1...by law, they have to give ample written notice before any policy change and give the consumer the chance to "opt out".