Rumored Verizon Changes

[wxman1]

Mobile Broadband is now tiered, but access for your smartphone is $20 for 2GB/month with $20/GB overage. I consider 2GB on a smartphone to still be "unlimited". Maybe others don't.

I would agree, I have a friend who has a Droid2 and he basically did everything he would normally do to see how much he used. He listened to pandora all the time, surfed the web on his phone and check fb, twitter, and e-mail a lot. Never went over 1gb

 

[jsmith86]

Mobile Broadband is now tiered, but access for your smartphone is $20 for 2GB/month with $20/GB overage. I consider 2GB on a smartphone to still be "unlimited". Maybe others don't.

I don't. I muted my phone and forgot I had slacker running the first weekend I had my droid 2, and blew through 1.5Gb overnight.

 

[HawkFanISUalum]

Meh...they can charge whatever they want. My company will keep paying the bill.

 

[Rogue52]

I don't. I muted my phone and forgot I had slacker running the first weekend I had my droid 2, and blew through 1.5Gb overnight.

If you ran Slacker continuously for 24 hours...

(128 kbit/s)*(1 Byte/8 bit)*(3600 s/1 hr)*(24 hr/1 day)*(1 GB/1,048,576 KB) = 1.32 GB

Plus, I'm not even sure Slacker's mobile app is 128kbps.

You are exaggerating, but if you listen to more than 24 hours of music in a month 2 GB will sneak up on you.

 

[simply1]

If you ran Slacker continuously for 24 hours...

(128 kbit/s)*(1 Byte/8 bit)*(3600 s/1 hr)*(24 hr/1 day)*(1 GB/1,048,576 KB) = 1.32 GB

Plus, I'm not even sure Slacker's mobile app is 128kbps.

You are exaggerating, but if you listen to more than 24 hours of music in a month 2 GB will sneak up on you.

Do some math on HBO's latest streaming app...

 

[brianhos]

Let me start this by saying my friend told me this today, but he has a tendency to be full of crap, so take it for what it's worth. I don't really believe him, but thought I'd see if anyone on here had heard the same thing or if they work for Verizon and would know.

He's saying they are ending their every 2 years discount and you will have to pay full price for every phone. He also said they are ending the unlimited Data Plans and it will now be pay per use.

Thoughts?

No way they stop discounting phones, they will lose all their customers. I could see them capping data now that people are tethering phones to computers.

 

[jsmith86]

No way they stop discounting phones, they will lose all their customers. I could see them capping data now that people are tethering phones to computers.

Isn't it pretty easy to tell who the tetherers are? Just look at the top 5% of data users and look at whether they are looking at mobile sites or full websites.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Isn't it pretty easy to tell who the tetherers are? Just look at the top 5% of data users and look at whether they are looking at mobile sites or full websites.

Meh, I use more full sites. They are usually easier for my to use. Hardly ever do I use a mobile site.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I thought they already did?

DO they though? I mean it's $1200 a year for me to talk, text and do whatever I want on the internet. I also have my mp3 player in the same unit and use all the apps that I want. I don't think that's a terrible deal.

 

[isuchicago]

No way they stop discounting phones, they will lose all their customers. I could see them capping data now that people are tethering phones to computers.

I'm really stupid about this stuff.. I get unlimited data, so I haven't tried to learn..looks like I might have to. But what the h does tethering phones to computers mean?

 

[Clonedogg]

just switch to consumer cellular they advertise on this site:smile:

 

[IcSyU]

I'm really stupid about this stuff.. I get unlimited data, so I haven't tried to learn..looks like I might have to. But what the h does tethering phones to computers mean?

Hooking up the phone to the computer and using the phone's internet capability to get on the internet on the computer.

 

[Cloned4Life]

My understanding (family member works for Verizon but I do not) is the New Every Two was separate from your contract. You will still be able to get a new phone at discounted prices but ONLY when your actual contract is up for renewal.

Your understanding is correct.

 

[drednot57]

My understanding (family member works for Verizon but I do not) is the New Every Two was separate from your contract. You will still be able to get a new phone at discounted prices but ONLY when your actual contract is up for renewal.

This, I know, is correct. That's the way our family plan works through Verizon; you wait until the contract is up for renewal and you upgrade with a new contract.

 

[zwclones51]

AT&T also doesn't have a large customer base either...coincidence? I think not.

AT&T is creeping up on Verizon for overall market share and will be ahead of Verizon after their acquisition of T-Mobile.

 

[AllIowaTeams]

AT&T is creeping up on Verizon for overall market share and will be ahead of Verizon after their acquisition of T-Mobile.

Highly, highly, highly doubt that. AT&T has nowhere near the customer base of Verizon. I am guessing here, but I would say even if you combine AT&T and T-Mobile's customer base it would still be significantly smaller than Verizon. I don't know one person out of my family or friends that use either of those providers. AT&T was also recently ranked the worst major provider. I believe it was by Consumer Reports. Don't quote me though as I read it in my dentist's office about 4 months ago.

Personally, I use Sprint and love it. My wife and I can share an unlimited data plan, which Verizon does not offer, and that saves us $30/month. I pay $140/month after fees and taxes for unlimited minutes, unlimited data, and unlimited texting for the two of us. If you live in a small town they would definitely not be the way to go, though. But if you're like me and almost never leave the city (unless it's to go to another city) then it always works great, at least it has for me.

 

[jbhtexas]

Personally, I use Sprint and love it. My wife and I can share an unlimited data plan, which Verizon does not offer, and that saves us $30/month. I pay $140/month after fees and taxes for unlimited minutes, unlimited data, and unlimited texting for the two of us. If you live in a small town they would definitely not be the way to go, though. But if you're like me and almost never leave the city (unless it's to go to another city) then it always works great, at least it has for me.

My wife and I do the same thing with Sprint, and we have been very pleased. Her family lives in a rural area, and when we travel there, we have never experienced lack-of-coverage issues. Prior to getting a work phone, I used my personal phone for business, and never had coverage issues.

I now have a Verizon smartphone for work. The charges seem high compared to Sprint for no noticeable difference in service, but that's the decision the company has made.

 

[isukendall]

My understanding (family member works for Verizon but I do not) is the New Every Two was separate from your contract. You will still be able to get a new phone at discounted prices but ONLY when your actual contract is up for renewal.

This. I recently upgraded, and tried to upgrade my wife's phone as well. They will only do upgrades now when the entire contract is up. Just buy a smartphone on ebay. They're fairly affordable, depending on what you get.

Plus, the last phone I got through Verizon was a POS, and I got zero customer service on it (kept replacing it with equally crappy phones). They'll treat you better if you're not on contract and they think they can get one, rather than if you're already locked in.

 

[drmwevr08]

I will have to check my useage to see if this will matter one bit. If they have a $15 version its possible that I can actually save money. Otherwise maybe I'll forgo the iphone 5 and just hook up now with the 4 and lock something in for two more years. Unless theyve changed they won't switch your plan on you even if they don't like it anymore. I had a plan once that was outdated by several years. They kept asking me to change but never forced the issue.

I guess this would severaly cramp my plans to run my laptop through the phone though. oh well

 

[ruxCYtable]

I would agree, I have a friend who has a Droid2 and he basically did everything he would normally do to see how much he used. He listened to pandora all the time, surfed the web on his phone and check fb, twitter, and e-mail a lot. Never went over 1gb

When I first got my phone I intentionally used it a ton to see how much data I'd use. I was shocked at how little it was. I've found that most places I go I can get a wifi connection so I hardly use my data plan at all,