For Those Buying the iPhone 5 and Grandfathered Unlimited Data

I am under a Verizon Loyalty plan with unlimited data now. My hubby is the Anti-Geek and has a flip phone that he only uses to make calls each month. I refuse to pay $30/month for him to be on a shared data plan with a plain old phone. I also hate to buy my new iPhone 5 outright when I never go over 2 GB/month on data. If I used the 4G on my iPad more I might consider a shared plan but I so rarely need it that it is cheaper for me to buy data the few months that I need it. I went to a Verizon store today to verify that I can keep my Loyalty plan but will be downgraded to 2GB data/month from unlimited. For $91 (I get a 15% discount) my hubby can get his phone calls and I get 2 GB data for my subsidized iPhone 5.
I gave up unlimited ATT data when I bought my iPhone 4. I travel regularly to 2 places where ATT coverage is awful.

xFiGGiE said:

That is the most asinine comment on so many levels I don't even know where to begin. Why are you talking about the UK specifically? You do realize the EU consists of 27 different countries and companies such as Orange, Vodafone, Telenor, etc.? All these companies together blanket the EU, and the surrounding areas...so you can take your stupid comment and keep being a sheep that follows the herd.

Ignorance is bliss.

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Are you telling me that when you sign up for a mobile phone contract in the UK that your data and calling coverage covers all 27 countries? if so, then yes, i'm ignorant about that specific piece. If not, my point still stands.

But yeah, if you can get a mobile phone for like $40 monthly and it covers all 27 countries, the US is ripping us off. If that only covers the UK, than you guys are getting ripped off. Which is it? i'm too lazy to google it

JayLenochiniMac said:

I have a question. Isn't the grandfathered unlimited plan with AT&T 3G/4G only? So if you get the iPhone 5 and want LTE you'll have no choice but to lose the grandfathered plan?

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This is correct. The contract agreed upon between you and AT&T was for them to provide you with 3G service. When (if) the new iPhone has LTE, you will then agree on a new contract, with revised terms, making all of this 'grandfathered' nonsense a thing of the past.

Spectrum Abuser said:

The FCC is telling Verizon how they can operate their own network. They shouldn't have that authority. It should be up to the board of directors to decide what happens with the company.

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Fine. As soon as Verizon stops using the public's airwaves they're free to do whatever they want.

Fair?

skidbubble said:

This is correct. The contract agreed upon between you and AT&T was for them to provide you with 3G service. When (if) the new iPhone has LTE, you will then agree on a new contract, with revised terms, making all of this 'grandfathered' nonsense a thing of the past.

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This is the first I've heard of this...

BuckeyeMac said:

This is the first I've heard of this...

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What have you heard? If the grandfathered plan is 3G/4G only, how can you stay on it to get LTE?

Or do you mean the new iPhone 5 will be capable of 4G along with LTE and you continue to use 4G on the grandfathered plan?

For some reason, I think they'll force us to upgrade to LTE if we get the new iPhone, just like they did with people who upgraded to iPhone 3G from the original iPhone.

skidbubble said:

This is correct. The contract agreed upon between you and AT&T was for them to provide you with 3G service. When (if) the new iPhone has LTE, you will then agree on a new contract, with revised terms, making all of this 'grandfathered' nonsense a thing of the past.

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not true at all. I switched to the S3 for a few weeks and they upgraded my plan to LTE unlimited.....went back to the iphone and my plan still says LTE unlimited. If they did what you describe everyone would just buy the phone and full retail pricing and once their old contract are up, at&t would lose a lot of business.

skidbubble said:

This is correct. The contract agreed upon between you and AT&T was for them to provide you with 3G service. When (if) the new iPhone has LTE, you will then agree on a new contract, with revised terms, making all of this 'grandfathered' nonsense a thing of the past.

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This is what I thought AT&T was intending to do. Was it made official for the new LTE iPhone?

leoneedees said:

I'll be purchasing mine with a new 2 year plan and losing my unlimited data as I am on wi-fi 95% of the time and barely use over 1gb of cellular data a month (probably use a good 10+ gb of data over wi-fi). So the cap at 2gb doesn't affect me at all.

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The cap doesn't bother me at all - I don't even hit 2gb with the phone AND ipad

What fries me is that their new plan will cost me more.

I wasn't planning on upgrading anyway, I got my 4S in November. Will see how things shake out as time goes on.

Small White Car said:

Fine. As soon as Verizon stops using the public's airwaves they're free to do whatever they want.

Fair?

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Fair, but I was corrected several days ago. It's always great for a little reinforcement, though.

Spectrum Abuser said:

You don't want Government intervention in the private sector. The FCC is telling Verizon how they can operate their own network. They shouldn't have that authority. It should be up to the board of directors to decide what happens with the company.

Should carriers have the right to block tethering applications? Absolutely. If you don't like how a specific company does business then switch to a competitor that has a similar mindset as you. Competition should move the industry, not the FCC.

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Your Ayn Rand boner is showing.

Spectrum Abuser said:

You don't want Government intervention in the private sector. The FCC is telling Verizon how they can operate their own network. They shouldn't have that authority. It should be up to the board of directors to decide what happens with the company.

Should carriers have the right to block tethering applications? Absolutely. If you don't like how a specific company does business then switch to a competitor that has a similar mindset as you. Competition should move the industry, not the FCC.

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The EU would be a good example of why you are wrong.

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skidbubble said:

This is correct. The contract agreed upon between you and AT&T was for them to provide you with 3G service. When (if) the new iPhone has LTE, you will then agree on a new contract, with revised terms, making all of this 'grandfathered' nonsense a thing of the past.

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However, AT&T is allowing you to extend your contract on the same terms.....so not sure what your talking about.

diane143 said:

The cap doesn't bother me at all - I don't even hit 2gb with the phone AND ipad

What fries me is that their new plan will cost me more.

I wasn't planning on upgrading anyway, I got my 4S in November. Will see how things shake out as time goes on.

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I'm assuming that is because of both the iphone and ipad? From what I understand I'll just be losing the unlimited but my plan won't cost anymore. Still paying 30$ for data but only getting 2gb instead of unlimited.

My dad just upgraded to the S3 and we weren't moved to the "share everything" plan we are still on our own separate data plans.

diane143 said:

The cap doesn't bother me at all - I don't even hit 2gb with the phone AND ipad

What fries me is that their new plan will cost me more.

I wasn't planning on upgrading anyway, I got my 4S in November. Will see how things shake out as time goes on.

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I hit (or came very close) to the 2GB on my Verizon iPad multiple times now. I don't know how I'd survive on a shared plan with only 1-2GB.

andross77 said:

Are you telling me that when you sign up for a mobile phone contract in the UK that your data and calling coverage covers all 27 countries? if so, then yes, i'm ignorant about that specific piece. If not, my point still stands.

But yeah, if you can get a mobile phone for like $40 monthly and it covers all 27 countries, the US is ripping us off. If that only covers the UK, than you guys are getting ripped off. Which is it? i'm too lazy to google it

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ok since "Guy" didn't respond I did some searching. Basically when you go from country to country you are under roaming rules. So receiving calls can still be free or relatively cheap, but making them will be more expensive. Plus your data plan does not cover it. So basically I have 40 times the space to use my mobile hotspot unlimited data Verizon plan than some dude in the UK and I only pay twice as much. I'm cool with that

Because its been cheaper for my family to share an AT&T plan (5 iphones, 4 of which have unlimited data) I've stayed on even after getting married.

However some research has shown me that the new shared data plan will not only allow me to tether and use FaceTime, but also save us between $20-$50 per month.

I'm the heaviest data user of the bunch and I don't usually exceed 2 GB per device (I have an iPhone 4S and iPad 3), so we might be targeting the 15 GB shared plan.

I was upset at first, but given that "unlimited" data has been far from that for a long while now, I think it's time to bite the bullet and just switch for the added features.

andross77 said:

I love how everyone loves to compare Europe's mobile networks option to the USA when European countries are TINY landmass-wise compared to USA. Hmmm, US companies probably don't charge more for services because they have to cover millions of more square miles....No, that can't be it.....

The US is 40 ( FORTTTTTYYYYYY) times bigger than the UK so shouldn't our cell phone plans cost 40 times as much since our plans let us talk in 40 times as many places as the UK plans??

That is only considering ONE factor of difference. Please stop these stupid, useless comparisons PLEASE!

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But then again, on the other side of the coin you have FORTY times more customers paying for their service

ml.sail1 said:

But then again, on the other side of the coin you have FORTY times more customers paying for their service

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Norway has the same density as the state of Arizona which is my state. Why does Norway get coverage nearly everywhere, and ours is still very gappy?

dontwalkhand said:

Norway has the same density as the state of Arizona which is my state. Why does Norway get coverage nearly everywhere, and ours is still very gappy?

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I believe I was supporting your views... I was disagreeing with the person who said comparing the US to EU was an unfair comparison, while supporting that the same market can be reached here in the States.

In other words, he was saying that US is 40 times larger and of course we as American should be "happy" that we are not paying 40 times the price that the British, Norwegians, or Swedes are paying. I was arguing that while there is definitely a larger area for coverage, it is backed by the much larger customer base (once again using the number 40 times as many PAYING customers) who provide income for the companies to expand their network.

Geckotek said:

However, AT&T is allowing you to extend your contract on the same terms.....so not sure what your talking about.

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My bad. What I was talking about is that AT&T is under no obligation to provide you or anybody with anything more than what was agreed upon when the contract was signed. At some point the gravy train is going to end. People are not being realistic if they think they get to keep their "grandfathered" plan 5, 10, 20 years down the line.

Spectrum Abuser said:

Fair, but I was corrected several days ago. It's always great for a little reinforcement, though.

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You're very magnanimous for a Macrumors poster. I commented without reading the thread. My apologies.

xFiGGiE said:

They get phones for free, hotspot capability for free, tethering no extra charge, etc.

/soapbox

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Yes, and many of those countries are going bankrupt. Free is never free. If you want something, earn it or pay for it.

pooleman said:

Yes, and many of those countries are going bankrupt. Free is never free. If you want something, earn it or pay for it.

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While I think Europe is dumb for not talking a more proactive stance with their economy, we in the US really shouldn't be talking smack about bad economic policy right now....

skidbubble said:

My bad. What I was talking about is that AT&T is under no obligation to provide you or anybody with anything more than what was agreed upon when the contract was signed. At some point the gravy train is going to end. People are not being realistic if they think they get to keep their "grandfathered" plan 5, 10, 20 years down the line.

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You never know. How many people are actually on unlimited? They stopped offering unlimited in June of 2010. A LOT of people got their first smartphone after that, as the smartphone industry has really taken off these last two years. I have a feeling that a lot less people have unlimited data than it seems reading online websites like this.

And then I think they are trying to get people to switch onto their shared data plans with strategies like the mobile Facetime. How many will they get to move over? I mean, nobody really knows. One of the big advantages of LTE is that it is a pretty fat pipe. Maybe once most of their data using phones are on LTE, the network will significantly improve? Maybe they'll pull a Verizon and not allow you to get a subsidy on your phone unless you switch? Maybe as long as you pay $700 every time you get a new phone, you'll keep unlimited forever.

I tend to agree with you that the unlimited plans will eventually go away. They aren't bound to grandfather you in. You signed a 2 year contract, and if that contract is up, they can decide to end your service unless you change plans. But there is always hope.

Peteman100 said:

While I think Europe is dumb for not talking a more proactive stance with their economy, we in the US really shouldn't be talking smack about bad economic policy right now....

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