http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704803604576077882199261422.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs
By KELLI B. GRANT & JONNELLE MARTE
You'd have to be living in a cave to have missed the big Tuesday news that the iPhone is finally coming to Verizon. But what the company didn't announce yesterday may turn out to be more important to subscribers: A change in the company's upgrade policies that will make phones more expensive for current and future Verizon customers.
As the iPhone makes a highly-publicized arrival at Verizon, the carrier is quietly eliminating plan upgrades, such as $100 rebates on new phones every two years, which customers have enjoyed for years. Kelli Grant has details.
digits:What Verizon iPhone Means for Apple, Google
digits: Verizon Unveils Its iPhone
Verizon officials have confirmed what SmartMoney was told by Verizon sales reps at a number of stores around the country: The company is ending its popular "New Every Two" program, which offers Verizon subscribers a credit of $30 to $100 toward a new phone every two years. As of Jan. 16, the company will stop offering the credit to new customers and won't re-enroll current customers in the program after their next New Every Two upgrade. The cell carrier is also putting the brakes on its permissive early upgrade policy, store representatives confirmed.
All of this adds up to more out-of-pocket costs for Verizon customers. With the New Every Two perk, a longtime customer with a $100 credit could get the iPhone4 for $99.99 half off its new-subscriber price of $199.99. When the program ends, new subscribers will no longer be eligible for those discounts. Existing customers will lose the perk when they renew their contracts (unless they renew before Jan. 16but that date is well before iPhone orders will be taken). And with the end of the early upgrade program, customers who were previously eligible for discounted phones as early as 13 months into a two-year contract will now have to wait 20 months to get a new phone at the promotional new-customer price instead of retail (for the iPhone, that's currently a difference of $400).
By KELLI B. GRANT & JONNELLE MARTE
You'd have to be living in a cave to have missed the big Tuesday news that the iPhone is finally coming to Verizon. But what the company didn't announce yesterday may turn out to be more important to subscribers: A change in the company's upgrade policies that will make phones more expensive for current and future Verizon customers.
As the iPhone makes a highly-publicized arrival at Verizon, the carrier is quietly eliminating plan upgrades, such as $100 rebates on new phones every two years, which customers have enjoyed for years. Kelli Grant has details.
digits:What Verizon iPhone Means for Apple, Google
digits: Verizon Unveils Its iPhone
Verizon officials have confirmed what SmartMoney was told by Verizon sales reps at a number of stores around the country: The company is ending its popular "New Every Two" program, which offers Verizon subscribers a credit of $30 to $100 toward a new phone every two years. As of Jan. 16, the company will stop offering the credit to new customers and won't re-enroll current customers in the program after their next New Every Two upgrade. The cell carrier is also putting the brakes on its permissive early upgrade policy, store representatives confirmed.
All of this adds up to more out-of-pocket costs for Verizon customers. With the New Every Two perk, a longtime customer with a $100 credit could get the iPhone4 for $99.99 half off its new-subscriber price of $199.99. When the program ends, new subscribers will no longer be eligible for those discounts. Existing customers will lose the perk when they renew their contracts (unless they renew before Jan. 16but that date is well before iPhone orders will be taken). And with the end of the early upgrade program, customers who were previously eligible for discounted phones as early as 13 months into a two-year contract will now have to wait 20 months to get a new phone at the promotional new-customer price instead of retail (for the iPhone, that's currently a difference of $400).
