Verizon backpedals on unlimited iPhone data Verizon performed a "two steps forward, one step back" dance on Tuesday, first announcing that it would offer an unlimited data plan for its upcoming CDMA iPhone, then revealing that its bandwidth munificence would be available only as an introductory offer. "I’m not going to shoot myself in the foot," Verizon COO Lowell …
That $25 for 2G is in addition to upwards of $90 for your calls and texting ($70/month for unlimited calling, or $60/month for 900 minutes a month, plus $20 for unlimited texting, or 20c/text, inbound or outbound, if you expect to use less than 100 texts per month).
So $115 plus taxes for a 2GB plan with unlimited calling and texting.
I am on Sprint with five EVO 4G. Everything is unlimited except for the calls to landlines where the plan gives me 1500 minutes/month.
Granted, I do not have hotspot included but having unlimited mobile to mobile minutes (I can call anybody at AT&T, Verizon or any other mobile), unlimited data plan ($30 per phone), unlimited texting, unlimited pictures makes me feel good.
All the above costs $250 a month (it would of cost ~$350 on AT&T/Verizon). And I am not that reach, so my kids pay for themselves ($250/5*3). ;-)
Somebody might say that Sprint overcharges $10 for 4G (for EVO 4G and their Samsung 4G data plan is $20 + $10 vs. $20 on all other phones) but my daughter in Seattle has 4G and I have it at work.
With such kind of a plan I thought that Sprint should be considered the best! 8-) But it is all about coverage (good for us).
I caution anyone considering a move to Verizon to think twice. Expect to be lied to in the Verizon store - It happened to me twice. They will say anything and do anything to make the sale. Ask me about the time Verizon store staff fraudulently opened eleven accounts in my name.
When you go into a Verizon store to sign up I strongly suggest you videotape the whole thing.
Also had a bad experience with Verizon store where the store manager was trying to put macaroni on my ears. It was a disgusting sales pitch. The guy was trying to show me that buying all my family plan phones in the store will save me $400 when in reality it was about $100 (he was drawing numbers on the paper for store vs. online). He did not know that I have bachelors degree in mathematics. ;-)
Moved my family plan from AT&T (bad reception, many dropped calls) to Sprint. Happy camper. (YMMV)
You can buy either buy cheap plans that give you no free minutes, and it costs an arm and a leg every time you phone, or you can buy plans that cost an arm and a leg, and give you ten times the free minutes you need.
I wish they would simply use a smooth price function, with a decreasing marginal price for the next phone call.
...has anyone ever looked into the iPhone's signalling behaviour? I suspect the bulk of the problems experienced by networks with the (earlier?) iPhones was because it is a naughty phone when it comes to signalling, not data usage.
Just ask the operators about fast dormancy.
(Android is pretty awful in this area too)
Got Virgin MIFI... and not a month later their "unlimited data plan (usd40/month)" was deflowered by the executives. Now all you get for usd40 is 5GB (hardly "unlimited")-- and that is only for grandfathered customers. Newbies get 100MB for usd15 and you have to use that in 10 days. I use 300MB/day for business connectivity, anyone want a slightly used MIFI?
Really, their value proposition has turtled and is heading for the bottom.
Well, at least I didn't join the millions of lemmings and blow a wad on a bloated iFad.
Unlimited is unsustainable - one person with an iPhone could use it for streaming TV / other video and use many, many Gb per month costing far more than they paid for the service.
One heavy user is only being subsidised by many low(er)-usage users - so being realistic about quotas may result in lower prices for lower usage users.
Realistic quotas won't mean lower prices, as long as they can find enough chumps willing to pay the price they're asking.
When you have what are effectively competition-free silos in the US market (because of hardware incompatibility, 24 month contracts and vendor locki-in, such as "family plans") prices will rise to what the market will bear, which doesn't necessarily have any relationship to the cost of the service.
I just bought two new phones on Verizon last Saturday, with the 30$ unlimited data plan. I'll be dammed if I don't get my unlimited data for the entire life of the contract that I've signed with them. I am a very heavy user of my data plan, and 2 gigs isn't enough for me for a month. Yes, that may be enough for most users, but dammit I'm paying for what was marketed to me as an unlimited data plan, and I will have my unlimited data.
</tinyrant>
I've been an AT&T Wireless customer for a *long* time (Cingular->AT&T->Cingular->AT&T) and have never had issues with them. I very rarely drop calls and have great coverage (and, yes, this is in a metropolitan area). I bought an iPhone 3GS when they were released and have been happy with it (except for the extra charge for tethering which is free everywhere else in the world).
Also, I enjoy traveling so I will not even consider a non-GSM phone/carrier.
Another strike against Verizon is no simultaneous voice/data on the iPhone (which AT&T supports just fine).
Not to be an iPhan, but ATT still offers unlimited data to those who had a plan with them prior to the change. My iPhone 4 has the unlimited data plan. As long as I don't choose to save a 15 dollars by opting for the 200MB plan(really is enough for me, but I like being legacy), they do not seem eager to kick me off of unlimited data. OTOH, tethering will cost me $45, but only for 2GB, hardly worth the effort.
We will see what this 'limited offer' from Verizon is. My experience is Verizon is an excellent network but at a very high cost. My suspicion is that when the iPhone 5 comes up, and data is delivered at expected speed, there will be strict limits placed on usage. I would be suprised if they grandfathered their customers as ATT does.
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