Verizon Ending Unlimited Data for Grandfathered Users

here's the actual verizon press release, take a close look at the middle paragraph.Data Pricing

As we have stated publicly, Verizon Wireless has been evaluating its pricing structure for some time. Customers have told us that they want to share data, similar to how they share minutes today. We are working on plans to provide customers with that option and will introduce new plans later this year.

When the new options are introduced, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to our customers purchasing handsets and signing a new contract. Customers who choose to purchase phones at full retail price and are currently on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan. The same pricing and policies will apply to all 3G and 4GLTE smartphones.

We will share specific details of the plans well in advance of their introduction so customers will have time to evaluate the plans and make the best decisions for their wireless service. It is our goal and commitment to continue to provide customers with the same high value service they have come to expect from Verizon Wireless.

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Just pulled it from above...since it may not be all that phone friendly for everyone

I think they just threw these press releases out to get people to talk about something other than not getting ICA yet..............................

I think they put on the press release to cover up for the CFO talking before he was supposed to...

Seems fair, if and only if they have phones people want at a decent unsubsidized price.

Yeahha said:

I think they put on the press release to cover up for the CFO talking before he was supposed to...

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Seriously. Damage control at it's finest.

Yeahha said:

Just pulled it from above...since it may not be all that phone friendly for everyone

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Until the next press release comes out to correct this press release because the CFO got mad being made to look like a fool.

Lol, I think this one should pacify enough people and the media for a while they shouldn't have to redact it.

wxman2003 said:

For those of us who use 5GB a month, buying the phone at full price is actually a better deal. 5GB plan currently cost $50, so I would be paying $20 a month more or $480 over 2 years. Throw in the cost of a phone if I got it subsidized ($200 or more) and the total cost would be $680 +. I can pay full retail for less than that, especially if Google really does allow more phone manufacturers to sell via google market.

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Instead of buying phone from google but full price from Verizon i would still come out ahead base on the following

Using the same example where i use 5GB of data a month with my unlimited plan. Currently that cost $50 a month on Verizon if on a tiered plan. So for me that would cost me $20 a month more or $480 more for data over 2 year if I were to do an upgrade. Now add the $200 for the subsidized phone and $30 to upgrade, a subsidized phone with a new contract with 5GB of data would cost me $710 more over a 2 year contract. Now if I paid full price of $650, I would stay on unlimited data and save $60. Even if verizon raised the price for an unsubsidized phone to $750 vs $650 I then would only end up paying $40 more for unlimited data or about $1.67 more a month for unlimited data vs a 5 GB cap.

ugh my head is spinning.. just read through this whole topic.

right now we have 4 phones. 3 basic and 1 data line. which is mine.
how can i be forced onto a tiered plan if i only have 1 data line?

i do use less then 2gb a month but i want unlimited if i need it.

i personally think they are doing this right before all the big hit new phones come out especially the iphone since the current is only 3g and the new one will be 4g.

now with the recent new conf they had that as long as you dont purchase a new phone or sign a new contract you keep unlimited. so does this mean that the other people on my plan of basic phones will be stuck and cant upgrade their phones without affecting me?

i dont have a problem buying a used phone at all.

now i do have a question. if a person on a basic phone switches to a smartphone off ebay and we just add a data package do we have to sign a new contract?

i guess its wait and see. and we have 1 more kid that doesnt have a phone so it looks like we will be getting him a phone real soon.

Mods...when whomever locked the other thread, did they not merge this one http://androidforums.com/verizon-ga...025-no-more-grandfathered-unlimited-data.html into this current thread?

Missing a lot of the comments from the other 'locked' thread. If you're going to lock the other one, then at least merge it please

I didn't spot any exclusions for the $10/month unlimited for life deal some people got. Maybe they will refine their statements at a later time. Or maybe they meant the life of a mayfly. :dontknow:

rabiddawgs said:

ugh my head is spinning.. just read through this whole topic.

right now we have 4 phones. 3 basic and 1 data line. which is mine.
how can i be forced onto a tiered plan if i only have 1 data line?

i do use less then 2gb a month but i want unlimited if i need it.

i personally think they are doing this right before all the big hit new phones come out especially the iphone since the current is only 3g and the new one will be 4g.

now with the recent new conf they had that as long as you dont purchase a new phone or sign a new contract you keep unlimited. so does this mean that the other people on my plan of basic phones will be stuck and cant upgrade their phones without affecting me?

i dont have a problem buying a used phone at all.

now i do have a question. if a person on a basic phone switches to a smartphone off ebay and we just add a data package do we have to sign a new contract?

haha looks like on my new phone i will be adding the insurance so it wont technically be an upgrade. how many times can you use the insurance?


i guess its wait and see. and we have 1 more kid that doesnt have a phone so it looks like we will be getting him a phone real soon.

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It would be one of the current tiered data plans more than likely but might be called a family share plan.

I would expect a non-smartphone upgrade should not affect your smartphone line. Now if you go from basic or feature phone to a smartphone it is a new contract.

Using insurance to upgrade as has been suggest could be considered fraud which carries some stiff fines so be careful if you are willing to go that route, I think Asurion limits you to 2 claims per year and 3 claims per policy period (2 years) they also tend to put you with a phone that is comparable to your own as that is what the policy is there for not an upgrade.

They're targeting people like me lol....

I'm grandfathered into unlimited data. I was in a 3G only area, and I would barely use 1 GB of data b/c I used WiFi at home exclusively.

My area just had 4G enabled about a month ago. I now don't use WiFi at home anymore.

My data usage for this billing cycle (ended mother's day, so was right at a full cycle of 4G) was well over 5 GB of data....

I can tell you one thing - I'm going to move on if I have to. Family plan or not, corp discount or not, if they make me give up unlimited data, I'm making them lose a customer, or three, or three hundred thousand.

I think metered policies would actually work better for data plans than for utilities. The thing about electric and gas companies is that they can do a lot of shady crap like randomly jack prices up in the winter because they essentially have a monopoly on the energy game in every city. The fact that there are always cell phone alternatives, it would kinda force them to play at least reasonably fair.

Then again if they continue the "Follow the Leader" trend, we'd still be screwed.

Verizon, AT&T, whomever will not ever enter a game where you pay for metered services like water or electricity.

The reason they won't get into that game is because people will become aware that this notion that it costs them <=$6 a gigabyte is false.
The real figure is somewhere around 2 or 3 cents per gigabyte and that is factoring in a large profit margin.

The 'cost' associated with delivery of a gig of data according to the telcos has been debunked many times over.
They say they don't have it and anyone with any sense knows they are fibbing.

I am all for ISPs going into metered service.
Those multi billion dollar quarters will go away as peoples' bills are cut in half - or more.

LoyalServant said:

Verizon, AT&T, whomever will not ever enter a game where you pay for metered services like water or electricity.

The reason they won't get into that game is because people will become aware that this notion that it costs them <=$6 a gigabyte is false.
The real figure is somewhere around 2 or 3 cents per gigabyte and that is factoring in a large profit margin.

The 'cost' associated with delivery of a gig of data according to the telcos has been debunked many times over.
They say they don't have it and anyone with any sense knows they are fibbing.

I am all for ISPs going into metered service.
Those multi billion dollar quarters will go away as peoples' bills are cut in half - or more.

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I would love to see where you are finding this info showing that the cost for the carrier to deliver a GB is pennies. I've never seen any sort of debunking but maybe I am just looking in the wrong places.

LoyalServant said:

Verizon backpedaled again.
Verizon customers can keep unlimited data if they forgo device subsidies | Mobile - CNET News

Just buy at full price and you keep your unlimited data.

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I actually thought of that before reading your post! lol It's still a hell of a hike price was and evens out in the end for them. Divide 650.00 dollars up into 2 years, your still paying. If that article is true, I suspect 4g phones (Used ones) will go up in value. Either way, they make their money.

Once and if I lose my unlimited, I will not own another smartphone and play into them like a puupet, I can and will walk away.

I think the droid bionic (which I have) is a fine example of why they want more money for data.

People like me.

I ditched my dsl and bought the media dock for my bionic which gives me a full firefox web browser. People are already hacking the phones to run full ubuntu linux! Ubuntu themselves has got something in the works.

With that said, I watch hulu on my television every sunday, atleast 3 movies. I listen to internet radio for hours a day, I hate radio stations and they don't play my type of music.

I'm 9 days into my billing period and already have used over 4 gig.

Don't hate me for canceling my dsl, I'm not home long enough to really use it. I can't justify paying two internet bills. Besides, att sucks anyways.

I mentioned it here on the forum sometime ago I will at somepoint walk away from the internet all together.

If verizon wants to toy with my plan, I just have my phone shut down and walk away.

And don't buy into that crap about buying a phone at full price! I you divide it up over two years, you're paying an extra 20 bucks a month give or take. They want you to SETTLE! I will not pay full price, again, I will walk away and not even bother with another carrier.

It's just a smoke screen.

But, like others have said, it's speculation right now. What ever the case, don't give in. We have lived thousands of years without smartphones. Just walk away.

Anyone know when the new subsidized/unlimited change goes into place? I am wondering if I should upgrade my phone before this happens.

I'm glad the GNex rocks, because I'm not giving up unlimited. My current contract runs to Dec 2013 so, we'll see what happens by then.

Just out of curiosity I looked at my last six bills to see what my data usage is like. I have never exceeded 4 gigs, but I have exceeded 2 on each billing cycle since I got my Nex. The point is, I don't want to have to think about it. This is the first time I've looked at the data use on my bill.

"Oh, that's a beautiful Shelby GT500 you just bought. You actually want to drive it? Oh we have to charge you extra for that."

Another thing to consider, they created this mess. Forcing you to have a data contract on your cell, even for many of the dumb phones. Now they say we can't handle what we force you to have. Allow me the option of no data as well.

ccoager said:

Anyone know when the new subsidized/unlimited change goes into place? I am wondering if I should upgrade my phone before this happens.

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We don't know exactly but they did say though would give plenty of warning prior to implementing in order to let their customers determine the best route for them.

How much more Dollars can they squeeze out of there customer's ??


Verizon Wireless will no longer be allowing customers on a grandfathered unlimited data plan to upgrade to a 4G LTE smartphone without changing plans when the carrier launches its tiered data share plans in mid-summer. Executive Vice President and CFO Fran Shammo announced the news during an investors conference this morning. "LTE is our anchor point for data share, so as you come through an upgrade cycle and you upgrade in the future, you will have to go onto the data share plan, moving away from the unlimited world," he said. "So when you think about our 3G base &#8212; a lot of our 3G base is unlimited &#8212; as they start to migrate into 4G, they will have to come off of unlimited and go into the data share plan, and that's beneficial for us for many reasons, obviously."
Unlimited data is a concept that has been heading towards extinction for some time now, and Verizon's decision to no longer honor the plans with LTE-capable devices will only expedite the process. AT&T continues to honor grandfathered unlimited plans for 4G upgrades, and Sprint remains the lone major carrier that still allows new customers to sign up for the privilege. Verizon had already been making a clear distinction between LTE and its legacy 3G network, offering data-doubling promotions exclusively to those shopping for an 4G-capable handset.
As you'd expect, Shammo touts the upcoming offerings as a better option for consumers and businesses alike. "If I can add as many devices as I want and share that data plan, that's a lot more efficient from a family share perspective, from a small business perspective," he said. "There is a large ramp of devices out there that, especially when you think about families, they're not connecting those devices because the incremental costs in the model we have today. And I think going forward, we're going to make it easier for folks to connect devices."
The full conference can be streamed at the source below, and Shammo reveals the impending death of unlimited data for LTE customers at around the 10:30 mark.
Update: Verizon provided some further clarification on the planned shift in policy to The New York Times. Customers that have an unlimited data plan can maintain the service by paying full retail price for future devices &#8212; essentially forfeiting the savings that usually come with an upgrade. The carrier's full statement:
– Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
– When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
– Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.
– The same pricing and policies will be applied to all 3G and 4G LTE smartphones.









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hopefully this will go as smoothly as the bionic launch. If so, wont have to worry about it for another year or so.

Outatime said:

"Oh, that's a beautiful Shelby GT500 you just bought. You actually want to drive it? Oh we have to charge you extra for that."

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Unless there is something I don't know you do have to pay extra to drive a car...the coat of gas, insurance, maintenance...the cost of a car to use it over the life of the vehicle is much more than the initial investment...

Eryl Flynn said:

Another thing to consider, they created this mess. Forcing you to have a data contract on your cell, even for many of the dumb phones. Now they say we can't handle what we force you to have. Allow me the option of no data as well.

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I agree...why shouldn't they allow a no data plan?