Verizon Wireless kills Pay as You Go data plans, data plans now mandatory
This has been rumored to be coming but VZW E dropped the bomb on us all by leaking a Verizon Wireless document detailing some drastic changes to Verizon’s data plans. Starting November 14th, 2008, all new PDA / Smartphones will require a $29.99/month or greater data plan. Gone are the pay as you go data plans, 1X data block plans and the 10 MB $24.99/month plans. The good news is that those who are currently signed up for any of the now canceled plans will not be forced to change. If you have a data block, you can keep your data block and continue to use Wi-Fi instead of EV-DO for you data connection. The bad news is that once you swap out your phone for any reason, you will be forced to upgrade to a $29.99 or higher monthly plan. The leaked document also notes that a similar plan will go into effect in 2009 for select Mobile Web 2.0 phones. Since the document mentions HTML web browsing capability as the criteria for a mandatory data plan, we assume this will affect phones such as the LG Dare, the LG Voyager and the new Krave ZN4. With this change, you will be forced to subscribe to the $15/month VCast plan that provides unlimited data for email and web browsing. This move, though controversial, is not entirely surprising. Verizon is apparently trying to better montize the growing interest in smartphones and generate a constant revenue stream by requiring data for all its advanced data-capable phones. Oh, one other thing. You know all of the hot new phones set to hit store shelves in November? Don’t be surprised if we see them become available after November 14th when this new mandatory data plan policy takes affect.
StartThinking? I’m sorry but that is the most baffling comment i have seen. You are saying that carriers take a hit on the phone price but that is clearly uninformed. Ie the cost to produce the Iphone 3g is $124 8g $154 16g or so. They are sold for 200 and 300. Yes there is a mark up for profit for apple and for ATT and that’s fine but thy are not losing money because they are not selling it for the unlocked price. Further if your argument is that the manufacture sells to the carrier at the unlocked price you are being deceived because they are the ones with the power to make prices they do not take prices.
Further your point that ATT does the same thing illustrates not only the point why people are complaining ie the carriers are all working together to jack up prices leaving consumers no choice but it also illustrates that Verizon charges more which is the problem with them. I did not know they were a “Premium Carrier” and there were these other “Sub-Par Carriers” as you describe them. That sounds ridiculous because people pay for mobile service not for Sub-Par service and their $300 for is the same as the Verizon $300 phone. Maybe some people don’t want to use the thing they purchased with their money in the way you want to use yours.
First of all… as a current corporate VZW Employee and as a former employee in the Blackberry Distribution and Marketing Center, manufactured price and 2 yr. contract price is completely different.
I assure you with the UP-MOST sincerity that, as you kinda mentioned, Apple does NOT sell their iPhone to AT&T at the manufactured price.
A. Can’t make a profit that way.
B. Bad business model.
Every company, including AT&T subsidizes their phones. Some more than others. But to think they do not is simply wishful thinking or something else entirely. Why do you think you sign a 2 yr. contract? Because the cellphone company says this….
“Agree to be with us for this long and we’ll take X amount hit on this phone and you can buy it for X amount of dollars.”
That’s cellphone business 101.
Hence a phone on a 1 yr. contract costs more because you are promising less amount of time and revenue for that company. And also for the same reason why you can’t sign up for a 2 yr. contract, buy a phone for $100, then 3-4 months later go in and upgrade to a new phone at a discounted rate. Because the company LOSES money on phone sales. That actually is one of the biggest drains on a company money wise.
Why do you think most companies love it when you bring your own phone? Because they don’t lose money.
And if you don’t believe me, just do some REAL research. Don’t take my word on it.
And as for “Premium Carrier”. I say such for the same reason BMW and Mercedes are considered “Premium” or “Luxury” cars… because the industry and industry critics rate them as such.
Hence Verizon Wireless is rated by J.D. Power and Associates (along with several other industry critics) top carrier in almost every category. (i.e. – cust service, dropped calls, network coverage, strength of network)
And yes, that’s why I work for them.
What’s the big fucking deal? You will still be able to select plans that are only voice, only data, or voice & data. The document above is stating Verizon isn’t going to allow “One time use.”Only BlackBerrys require a data plan. It’s optional on other wireless devices.
And the cheapskates start to breakout the tissue and lock up there wallets!!
This is why I, too, will be leaving Verizon.
Yeah people are getting all bend out of shape about nothing.
It’s no big deal, from what I have read it seems that Verizon is just blocking all data access from smart phones unless they are subscribed to a data feature. I feel its a waste to have a smart phone without wanting to have data on it, but I know people often don’t always buy things for function. It’s like people who own a SUV that have never taken it off road or a woman who buys pretty shoes that make her feet hurt.
Yes, if this is the case I will be leaving Verizon Wireless I guess. I work at home and when I am going somewhere, I tend to take the NYC Subway, which is useless for data plans anyway. However I use my phone for reading ebooks and Wifi (xv6700 with no data plan). The real issue for me is that Verizon is really the only carrier I have found that works in my apartment (big buildings block a lot of signal)….no GSM phones I’ve found work. I really have use for a data plan maybe twice a month, which just isnt worth the extra money. But I may move, my job may change, etc. over the course of my wireless contract, so another reason people might want to get a phone without a data plan is to ‘future proof’ their phone. I guess I will have to do the round robin again and see which phone/carrier combinations actually work in my apartment, or which ones have WiFi/VoIP hand-off.
Anyone that is or was a VZW employee direct or indirect knows why this is happening. A little over a year ago, Verizon launched a promo for the Motorola Q (1st Gen) they were selling it for $99.99. There was a stipulation on that price though, there was what was called an “Advanced Data Device Credit” worth $100. That being said, Verizon was willing to knock off $100 for getting the data plan. The problem was, all these people wanted that phone merely because it was on sale but didn’t want the data. So they put it on there and the next day took it off, since it was just a feature there were no penalties. As for the extra $100, Verizon just ATE it. Ever notice why blackberries are the only smartphone to go on sale with Verizon?
As for everyone that is jumping ship because big bad Verizon is telling you you have to do something. Be my guest, go to AT&T or T-Mobile or even Sprint good luck with your limited 3G coverage then whine about how slow EDGE is.
I bet a lot of the people on here complaining about this don’t even use smartphones.
Being someone that sells Verizon, RARELY do I sell I smartphone/PDA without at least the $29.99 unlimited e-mail and web for Smartphone/BlackBerry. Maybe 1 in 20. Therefore, that’s not much of a surprise to me. Kinda makes sense.
However, I def don’t agree with them forcing “select Mobile Web 2.0 phones” to have data plans. That is just dumb. Some people choose phones such as the Dare, enV/enV2 and Voyager because they are “cool” but they don’t fit into the definition of a “smartphone.” I’m not looking forward to telling my customers about that.
You have to love Verizon loyalists…never knew there were so many and now it’s going to get even worse at 70 million costumers, lol. That said, I too am a Verizon costumer and fan. I have a smartphone but don’t really have the need for data at all and if I do I just use Wifi. I can understand this move but simply forcing everyone to adopt the plan is bad. There are various things I do with my 6700 that does not require data…practically everything I do with it does not require data actually. The times I do need it are rare and that is when I resort to Wifi so to make this mandatory is crazy. I think it will stick though and many of the other carriers will follow suit. I know a lot of people with smartphones and no data plan so they’re going to be highly upset when they try to upgrade their phone and get hit with this news. Damn VERIZON…I won’t leave BUT DAMN!!
This is probably the smartest thing Verizon has done in awhile. Their customer service isn’t that great at handling people who don’t take responsibility for their data. It will suck for people who have been smart and know what they can do to save a few dollars though.
The only problem I’m having here is data higher than $29.99. With data becoming required for pda’s I’m wondering what phone or phones they might have that would actually need a higher plan. Seems stupid to me. Just standardize.
How are forced plans good for the customers?
My smart phone has WIFI and I dont use or need a data plan. I love my smart phone and its qwerty keyboard for composing texts, scheduling appointments, syncing with computers and if I need to surf, I’m always near a place that has free WIFI.
Not everyone who likes/uses/wants a smart phone needs a data plan.
To the dummy who made the analogy : “If youre going to buy an HDTV, then you MUST buy HDTV programming, why would you use rabbit ears?”
As of Feb 2009, all rabbit ears will pick up HDTV programming. Free.
@ Blackula
I understand that.
You said you were considering the Storm, until you read about these plan changes. The point is, these changes have no affect on the Storm’s data pricing. Blackberries have always required the data plan.
I guess you just didn’t understand Verizon’s Blackberry pricing to begin with.
They wanted you to buy the storm instead, cuz if u paying for a data plan for the WiFi version of the pda , then by that maybe u might consider buying their profitable phone the Storm, and why this came late, yes its a reaction to what everybody was talking about which is no to Verizon crippled Storm its a tactic. Obviously blogging is working and people voices are heard. Or maybe after acquiring Alltel they are too powerful, maybe the government should encourage T-mobile and sprint do something together to face and challenge the greediness. I think buying a powerful phone like the XPERIA or the IPHONE HD 32GB with a full price worth it. At least they are not crippled. I think we should pay more attention to small carriers like Cricket …. cuz u will pay for a full price but at least ur phone is not crippled and ur wallet is not empty at the end of the month.
On Nov 2, 2008 @ 10:44 am, Blackula Said:
“And to think i was about to switch companys to them? I dont think so. I will stay with t-mobile as long as possible. The only thing that was about to make me switch was for the storm but not no more. 20.00 dollars a month for unlimited data is good enough for me.”
Pray tell, what data plan were you going to get on the Storm BEFORE this announcement was made? Blackberry devices have ALWAYS required a data plan. This doesn’t affect you either way if you were going to a Blackberry Storm. If it were out today you would still have to get either the $29.99 Email + Web or 44.99 Blackberry Enterprise plan. I fail to see how this announcement sours the deal for you if you were planning on getting a Storm. Please explain.
@moosc
…What?
On Nov 3, 2008 @ 12:00 am, Tyson Said:
“StartThinking? I’m sorry but that is the most baffling comment i have seen. You are saying that carriers take a hit on the phone price but that is clearly uninformed. Ie the cost to produce the Iphone 3g is $124 8g $154 16g or so. They are sold for 200 and 300. Yes there is a mark up for profit for apple and for ATT and that’s fine but thy are not losing money because they are not selling it for the unlocked price”
Really, Tyson?
Have a look at these links, if that is what you believe.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/downside-ts-iphone-3g-subsidies/2008-10-23
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39857/122/
http://techland.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/10/31/verizon-mulls-heavily-discounted-blackberry-storm/
Does Verizon require you to stay on the data plan once you sign up? Can you simply cancel the data plan one month in?
Joe,
That is EXACTELY what Verizon is going to avoid by doing what they are doing. All the customers that want that smartphone so they feel “important” gotta pay to have that status symbol now.
hence the wording in the article……required.
@EPS Your right you can recieve HD signals that way if your antenna gets a good enough signal to where it’s not staticy or you spend the extra $ on a Powered antenna. Which once again you are spending more money.
The funny thing is people are complaining about the market and how the economy is. “VZW shouldn’t require this.” If you can’t afford it then don’t buy it. LG VX5200 (3-4 yr old phone) has a calendar, calculator and contact list. People want to look like they have money and get nice stuff. Live within your means. You don’t need $200-$300 phone if your going to complain about the services to go with it. It’s a luxory to get a high end phone not a requirement. Gas in a car is more of a requirement and people deserve the right to complain about that. You looking cool at your friends house with a phone that tell you the weather or let you check your Myspace, please cry me a river
I keep laughing at how stupid people are saying
“This is why I am leaving Verizon”
you think ATT isn’t going to follow suit?
You think Sprint isn’t already bringing this down?
don’t be myopic.
this will ALSO be bringing in a LOT of wifi enabled phones, a new BB, 3 new windows mobile, and a palm device ALL with wifi…and mandatory data plans. most of you losers saying that you will leave verizon are the same broke losers working BK bitching that there isn’t enough Wifi phones so that you can get a data plan for cheap because you can’t afford a real phone.
@CHEAP SKATE
Funny, I’m the dummy, my statment said nothing about “Having” to buy an HD service. It simply meant having the need for a 50″ plasma when
a. you have a channel service that is unpredictable with reception and limited on options
b. you can drop $1500+ on a tv but complain about an extra $25.00/mo (basic plan)
c. You have the POSSIBILITY of having to a $BUY$ converter at that point in FEB 09
just doesn’t make a lot of sense
Ignore option C. I’m not sure why I Posted that
@smknv8s
You are talking like a big business and not like a consumer. If you have all this extra cash floating around during these rough times then I’ll be sure that I’m voting tomorrow to the candidate opposite of you. You can pay for my $30.00 data plan with my tax break that I’ll get next year.
Luxury means limited. If you think Verizon is doing itself any favors by making a requirement then they are gravely mistaken. I use a smartphone and it sure isn’t with Verizon. Crippled every operating system since 2002. There’s were your limited comes into play.
Wifi & Qwerty all you need.
Data should never be a requirement. Now if your dumb enough to use Verizon’s data and think it was free then you shouldn’t be owning a smartphone.
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If you work for Verizon your input is bias and should be ignored.
I’m not by any means “big buisness” Just educated. If I can’t afford something then I don’t get it. I don’t like limiting myself. pardon me for being able to afford that luxury.
“luxary means limited” wow you gradumicated the 2nd grade didn’t ya?
Luxury-”a material object, service, etc., conducive to sumptuous living, usually a delicacy, elegance, or refinement of living rather than a necessity”
I can do just as much on my Curve as my buddy who has an AT&T Curve can. I’m not limited. Mine is actually faster then his edge.
I don’t work for VZW directly or indirectly, I have a Curve from them and I actually sell the competition. All of them. (Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile) So I am talking from a customers perspective.