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

[WVOz1970]

could someone get off from their contract should this tier plan go through? I don't think i'll stay with verizon if they do.

Generally speaking, no. Usually the only way you can get out of a contract is if the other party modifies it. I've not read the phone contract in detail, but I studied enough contract law in college... If VZW would try to modify existing contracts, then generally accepted practice is that they have to offer you the option to accept their modification or cancel the contract without penalty. If they simply forced the change to you without an option to leave, they are in breach of contract. (Again, they may have fine print that I haven't read... just basing this on typical accepted business law principles)

I'm not thrilled... but I'm also not surprised. I travel a lot for business. And if you'd have asked me 3 years ago if I thought I would be paying for every piece of luggage I take on the plane, I'd have told you that it was highly unlikely. Yet now look... once one industry leader "steps into the water" and the others see it being profitable, they all follow suit. (Kudos to Southwest Airlines though, my bags still fly free!!) Anyhow, it is the same in the wireless market. ATT tested the waters, now it appears that VZW will probably follow suit. And don't be surprised if other carriers jump in. The bottom line is that corporations have to turn a profit for their shareholders, and if this decision will help that bottom line, then that's what they are gonna do. They weigh the numbers and when they announce a change (just like the airlines) there is a planned percentage of customers who will leave, but the anticipated revenue from those who remain is expected to offset and exceed whatever was lost. Businesses don't go into these kind of decisions without a bunch of paperwork to prove the profit. When the change goes live, the paperwork gets tested. Sometimes it proves wrong, sometimes it's proven right. Only time will tell.

As for me, my typical data usage on my old WinMo phone was around 200 megs a month. When I got my Droid, I jumped to about a gig per month. The phone does make a difference. As long as they charge a reasonable amount for 2 gigs a month, I don't mind it. I may even be able to make my bill a little cheaper in the long run if I manage my data usage properly.

 

[techguru]

Not sure I want to get into this....

Those of you saying you will go to AT&T or T-Mobile in protest... They both already have tiered data, so I am not sure what you would be gaining. (Although T-Mobile's is pretty fair, they don't hit you with overage charges, they just slow down your data when you go over).

For those talking about breach of contract.... The data package is a feature, not part of your contracted plan. You can add, drop, or change it at any time (although if you drop it completely, you need a non feature phone to switch to). Your contract explicitly states that features can be added, removed, or prices changed at any time by VZW. You could argue, probably succesfully, that it is a reason to get out of your contract without paying the ETF, but you would probably need to return your subsidized phone or pay full retail for it, which is more than the ETF.

I suggest patience. First, Endgadget does not have a great track record on predicting dates for changes. We have known for a while that VZW was likely to go to tiered pricing at some point, they have talked about it for over a year (buyer beware applies here. Should have done some research before buying if you are going to get bent out of shape over this). But they also have seen the reactions in the press and in at least one market focus group to the change to tiered pricing at AT&T and T-Mobile.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect they will have a reasonably fair plan. Probably lower cost for some users, about the same for those in the 5 gig/month range, and a little higher for those really using a lot of data (I am a heavy user and rarely hit 5 gig in a month).

The big question is how they will handle overages. I am hoping they push the user into the next tier instead of their typical method of adding a per megabyte charge, but we'll see.

They are also likely to grandfather users in for at least some time period.

Alan

 

[evsdmf]

VZW is short sighted!
Any material change in a contract that requires the data plan will be grounds for contract termination by the user without penalty.

If they force the change on us, then we can leave. Just pay attention and read every part of your monthly bill.

I want the DroidX but I guess EVO here I come....

I currently have a Droid with unlimited data, so I will see what they do very soon...

 

[sos567656765]

this is exactly what they are doing to me right now. Sometimes data is just off no 3g or 1x icon, even where I know I should have data. If they keep it up or start tiered data I will jump ship to sprint when my contract is up(maybe sooner). But that raises the question of how long until sprint followes att and vzw's steps?

 

[Parrothead]

Since they're following AT&T like a little puppy- I can only hope that they will allow current unlimited data customers to keep their unlimited plans when they upgrade phones... I was planning on upgrading to the Droid X in November, and if V is going to force me to a tiered plan come upgrade time, I'll just ride my contract out on the mDroid and take my money to sprint.

 

[MrDoo75]

I will not stress about this until I see an official announcement, but I do have to say it does kinda put a damper on the excitement I had of looking forward to Froyo. The upcoming addition of Flash 10.1 is not as appealing if I can not afford to use it.

 

[Parrothead]

Also, I thought that AT&T going to a tiered plan would steer customers in the direction of Droids and Verizon.. apparently they don't see it the same way.

 

[sos567656765]

When att anounced it's data tiers i cringed knowing that big red was soon to follow.... data tiering will happen.... even with lte we will see speed tiers and higher data caps... I hate that they get us addicted to data and then restrict it... i averaged 1.8 gigs a month with my droid... a 2 gb plan would be cutting it close for me...

I'm pushing 2GB and am just under half way thru the billing cycle.

 

[SkullOne]

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.

 

[NeoandGeo]

I use just over 5GB a month and don't do much of anything on my Droid. I do always have WiFi turned off though to conserve battery life. With LTE and tiers, they really should get rid of the legacy voice/text plans and allow users to buy buckets of data and call it a day.

But that would have people with bills slashed in half or more, and that is bad business. :icon_evil:

 

[jeff0r3]

Thats a good selling point IMO.. Don't tier it and Give us something to make the At&T users even more jealous of Droids!

 

[virtaclesmile]

Okay...who here reads the fine print? anyone??? Not me for sure. I am also a heavy user. Joined VZW 2 months ago. I came from an iDon't 3gs. So, for me my moto droid as well as VZW, this is an overall win for me. After reading some of these posts here are some points worth considering.
1) Speculation : We can all guess "when" this will happen.(the is no"if" because it is the next logical step) we have no idea about pricing, usage, or or the teir structure itself.
2) contracts : It would be a bad business decision to change ANYTHING about what YOU signed on for. If I recall correctly, I didnt have any other choice but to accept the $29.99 a month data charge. I dare them to try and change that when I didnt even have a choice to begin with. It's not like the visual voicemail ($2.99 a month....Really??) I could lose this and still have a smart phone.
3) month 2 month : I also had this question regarding getting a phone retail or used off ebay and switching it over and not changing my current contract. I will do some investigating and let you folks know.
4) lastly : This will likely happen to ALL major carriers at some point in the future. BELIEVE IT. As smartphones become the norm as opposed to the exception, data usage will indeed need to be regulated. Just the facts folks. you can cry foul, bang your head against the wall, kick your neighbors cat, but, it wont change the fact that this is a speeding train out of control heading in a direction that you may not like. I for one am saving my voice and holding reservation until I have all the facts. screaming about something that doesn't even exist.....thats just silly.

Bigfoot anyone???

 

[GohanBurner]

Without Unlimited Data plans I might as well just go back to my ****ing Razr. What's the point of using a smartphone if you can't use all the data you might need. As we all know, every single app uses at least SOME data, whether its downloading the actual app or downloading information from servers, so if we are limited on that then we are going to be less likely to BUY or USE these smartphones. Granted, I use about 7GB of data a month playing CoD:MW2 but still, is anyone experiencing any problems? With the option of having WiFi or 3G we should be able to balance the two just fine. I am very disappointed that Verizon would even think about these. Why limit the data? MAKE CHANGES SO THAT THE USE OF THE DATA WON'T EFFECT YOU GUYS! DON'T MAKE US THE ONES WHO HAVE TO CHANGE.

 

[droidtom]

not a big deal for me

I used 1.5 GB last month and I use mine a lot. Doesn't AT&T say that 80% of their bandwidth is used by 5% of their customers. I think that's pretty ridiculous. If 95% of users get by with less than 2 GB of data and they can charge those users less and charge more to the 5% that use a ton it sounds ok to me.

 

[GohanBurner]

I used 1.5 GB last month and I use mine a lot. Doesn't AT&T say that 80% of their bandwidth is used by 5% of their customers. I think that's pretty ridiculous. If 95% of users get by with less than 2 GB of data and they can charge those users less and charge more to the 5% that use a ton it sounds ok to me.

That's like saying "Oh, as long as I am fed they can do whatever they want to that small village of Ethiopians. Like I care!".