Verizon Introduces New Monthly Service Plans, Eliminating Smartphone Subsidies for New Customers

[From A Buick 8]

Individually I could see it saving money. But most people do family plans which it wouldn't save them money.

Right now I have 4 smart phones with 15GB of data this cost us $250 a month (more everything plan). Going with this new plan looks like I could save maybe $50 a month

 

[dbc34]

Try using thise gigs while at home/work. Thanks Verizon!

I am on an island an hour away from Houston, more rural and "off the grid" than galvestiknand I have 4 bars of LTE and not one problem streaming music. And I'm saving $160/month with 6 smartphones and more data. 30gb shared vs 10/gb per line.

 

[mrfoof82]

Looked over the plan options.

Compared to what I have now, I can drop to 1GB of data (all I need) for a single line plan. This reduces my bill from $65/mo to $45/mo. Over 2 years, that's $480 in savings. That completely offsets paying an additional $450 for the phone (assuming full subsidy -- subsidy is lower if I only get a partial).

For me this is a win. Lower overall TCO.

 

[Beerstalker]

This is a bad deal compared to the current share everything plans if you buy your own phones. Right now I only pay $15 a month for smartphones that are off contract (you pay $40 and get a $25 discount if the line is off contract). So with this new plan my costs would go up by $5 for each phone.

Hopefully I can stay on my current plan and they don't drop the $25/month discount for lines off contract. I have one contract ending next month, and another in April.

I'm paying $245 a month for 5 iPhones (3 off contract), an iPad, a flip phone, and 11GB of data. This should drop below $200 once the other two iPhone lines contracts are up.

 

[rdlink]

The US carriers must make obscene profits... the prices US customers pay for their phone service is astronomical. I don't think they realise how much cheaper it is everywhere else.

Never thought I'd defend the US Telcos, but they do have to spend a lot more on infrastructure to build out networks. No offense to our friends in the UK and Europe, but there are whole countries that aren't as big as some of our states. And out west it gets even more ridiculous, because they have to build their networks to cover vast, sparsely populated areas, and deal with some massive mountain ranges.

For instance, in my home state of Colorado, the 8th largest state in the US, our land mass is more than twice that of England, with a ton of wilderness area and the Rocky Mountains running north-south throughout the state. Texas is over 5 times as big as England.

 

[macduke]

I actually like this new plan. Please someone poke a hole in my logic if I'm missing something because we all know how tricky these companies like to be!

New plan:

6GB - $60/mo
My smartphone line $20/mo
Wife smartphone line $20/mo
iPhone 6S 128GB ($35.41/mo)
iPhone 5 16GB (wife's, paid for three years ago)
Work discount - $12/mo reduction

Total: $123.41/mo plus surcharges and taxes

Old Plan:

6GB shared data - $60/mo
My smartphone line - $40/mo
Wife smartphone line - $40/mo
Work discount - $12/mo reduction
iPhone 6S 128GB $399 - $16.63/mo over 24 months (not paid on contract but still a cost)

Total: $144.63/mo plus surcharges and taxes

Currently my plan is $113/mo plus surcharges and taxes due to $15/mo credit for wife not using an upgrade, though technically the cost of my iPhone 6 Plus pushes that higher. But considering I was going to use my wife's upgrade she would lose her discount and I would still have to pay $399 for a 128GB 6S. My wife is still holding out for an iPhone 6C 4" upgrade because she refuses to get a bigger phone. So between the two plans I'm saving over $20/mo! Again, someone please poke holes in my logic as I just cranked this out really quick.

 

[dampfnudel]

This move by Verizon to eliminate 2-year contracts for new customers could give AT&T the green light to stop giving current customers 2-year contracts and move them to current plans. Now that the only other "good coverage everywhere" option is no longer available.

 

[4jasontv]

Never thought I'd defend the US Telcos, but they do have to spend a lot more on infrastructure to build out networks.

Um... I hear this all of the time, but never with details. Show me the numbers you are using to make this claim. In 2014 Verizon spent 9.4 billion on wireless. This includes retail operations, customer service, AND network. This year Vodafone spent over 10 billion dollars on just its network.

 

[tdmac]

I'm not defending Verizon, but I hate when people say "My <insert European country> offers x for y". People get it, your wireless service is cheap. Look at the size of your country though and consider that as one factor. Look at the size of the Verizon or AT&T network. Apples to oranges.

However, you then can say that america has X times more people paying as well. Thus, things should even out. But, Is there more then one carrier in those countries or multiple like hear in the US? That is a bigger factor cause with a sole carrier its one set of infrastructure divided by the number of all users in the country. Here its multiple carriers then diving up all of the possible cellular users in the US.

 

[31 Flavas]

What the hell. I pay £12 a month (monthly, no contract) for unlimited 4G data here in the UK. Those prices seem absolutely obscene.

Yea, this is totally a thing over here in America. Same with outrageous prescription drug prices. It's obscene what businesses are allowed to get away with here. But, worse even, in that we fight to protect it. Reward such behavior.

'Murica F-Yeah! Isn't just sarcastic turn of phrase. T-Mo trying to alter things the touch that they are -- is treated with derision. Because 'Murica F-Yeah! Citizens actually support these prices. They champion AT&T and Verizon, even. Venerate them.

 

[4jasontv]

However, you then can say that america has X times more people paying as well. Thus, things should even out. But, Is there more then one carrier in those countries or multiple like hear in the US? That is a bigger factor cause with a sole carrier its one set of infrastructure divided by the number of all users in the country. Here its multiple carriers then diving up all of the possible cellular users in the US.

There is more than one carrier per country in Europe.

 

[ArcaneDevice]

I'm not defending Verizon, but I hate when people say "My <insert European country> offers x for y". People get it, your wireless service is cheap. Look at the size of your country though and consider that as one factor. Look at the size of the Verizon or AT&T network. Apples to oranges.

We are not talking coverage. Size is an irrelevant argument to pricing and value. It's how cell phones companies have chosen to do business over decades that kept prices ridiculous.

You can thank John Legere for shaking things up. It's no coincidence that when he arrived on scene and started changing the approach T-Mobile had that other companies have had to react. European companies have been competing for years, not just sitting around counting the money because there were only three players and they were exactly the same bunch of crooks.

 

[dcp10]

Verizon hopes that the new offerings will result in "a larger and more streamlined bill"

There was a typo. I fixed it

 

[FoxyKaye]

+1 to everything that has been said about T-Mobile... I've had it since the Nexus One days, and have a great price on truly unlimited data/voice/text/tethering etc. BUT, now founding my own company and using T-Mobile as a business professional, I'm literally embarrassed by it once a week. When the 6s is released, I'm going to have to switch networks, either to Verizon or AT&T, simply because not being able to conduct business - call drops, no coverage/service, overloaded circuits, slow data loading because of overloaded circuits, bad connections, interference, the list goes on - is an absolute deal breaker. I'll be super sad, because T-Mo customer service has been practically cult-like amazing, but if a mobile phone can't live up to it's basic function as a cellular device, then what good are all the perks that T-Mo throws in?

 

[tylerdw89]

So my question is this:

When I go in to the Apple Store to get my 6S...will I pay them $400 or will they just have me pay it monthly and change my plan to this.

 

[2457282]

Verizon is still the most expensive carrier in the US and maybe the planet. This is only a small improvement when you put pencil to paper. XL Data (12gig) for $80 and 4 lines for another $80. On AT&T I am paying $140 for lines and and 15gig (plus rollover). Of course Tmob is better priced, but I am willing to pay more for better coverage. Verizon was never an option when you could not talk and browse at the same time. Now they are still too expensive. I am hoping that Tmobs LET network becomes really good and stays reasonably priced. I would love to save a few extra dollars over AT&T.

 

[BandH]

What the hell. I pay £12 a month (monthly, no contract) for unlimited 4G data here in the UK. Those prices seem absolutely obscene.

What carrier or provider? I assume nanoSIM for iPhone 6/Plus is supported? I would like to know as would be a great/inexpensive option when visiting the UK to buy the sim/service.

 

[Ralphalph]

Are the prices in the article including access for one smartphone plus the data or are those prices just for the data?

Surely they can't be just for the data as that would be a colossal ripoff compared to the plan they've been marketing the hell out of for the last several months -- 2 smartphones, 10 GB of data = $80/month.

So now is it 2 smartphones, 6 GB of data = $100/month?

I hope everyone that wanted to jumped on that 10 GB deal. I thought for sure that would become their new standard price for 2 smartphones and 10 GB of data. I figured they'd throw that bone to their customers since they seem to have no interest in giving them rollover data.

No, the previous price was $80 for 10GB of data, PLUS line access charges per device. If they were phones on a device payment plan, then $15 per. So it adds up to $110, plus taxes and fees, so likely $124 per month.

 

[Ralphalph]

This is not true. I have a single line and a subsidized price allows me to have the phone at a discount. If I pay for a phone full price over 24 months I will be paying more per month.

You may be paying more per month, but you will not pay more in total. Look at the total cost for 2 years. If you add it up and include the $40 line activation fee for the subsized plan, you will find that the subsidized plans are usually more expensive.

 

[4jasontv]

Verizon is still the most expensive carrier in the US and maybe the planet. This is only a small improvement when you put pencil to paper. XL Data (12gig) for $80 and 4 lines for another $80. I am paying $140 for lines and and 15gig (plus rollover). Of course Tmob is better priced, but I am willing to pay more for better coverage. Verizon was never an option when you could not talk and browse at the same time. Now they are still too expensive. I am hoping that Tmobs LET network becomes really good and stays reasonably priced. I would love to save a few extra dollars.

That is totally reasonable. I had the opposite experience. After years of terrible customer support on Verizon I decided the few extra miles of coverage wasn't worth it to me.

Do yourself a favor and try not to research the issue much. Once you know why Verizon has the best service [edit: I mean coverage]you will be far less willing to put up with them.

 

[BandH]

The problem is that these prices don't seem to line up with the unsubsidized pricing of competitors. Like, you can get 5GB of data from Straight Talk using Verizon's network for $45/month. But Verizon wants to charge you $65/month? How does that make sense?

Makes perfect sense. There are MVNO dealer/resellers for all the major networks. Each MVNO offers the same network (towers, etc.) for a lower price than the brand name. In my case, I use Cricket which is an MVNO on the AT&T Network.

The distinction is:

1. You must have a paid-in-full unlocked phone. MVNO's don't deal with subsidies or monthly phone rentals.

2. You must read the fine-print. The TOS (terms of service) are different than the underlying name-brand. For example, Most MVNO's do not allow ANY roaming outside the US whereas named carriers have either a la carte roaming (at very high per minute rates), or roaming plans with lower, but still expensive rates. Because of T-Mobile, more named carriers (and even some MVNO) are starting to offer free or lower-cost roaming to US/Canada and even other countries. In my case, Cricket just added Canada/Mexico free roaming which was a pleasant surprise.

3. Bandwidth caps and traffic shaping - MVNO's will often cap LTE at lower max speeds. e.g. Cricket limits me to 8 Mb LTE speeds which realistically is faster than I would get anyway in most areas and much faster than 4G anyway. StraightTalk, and other MVNO's have fine print that say they can throttle your traffic if the underlying network is congested.

4. Billing and customer service - MVNO's use the name-brand towers and radios, but customer service, billing, and support are all roll-their-own and often inferior (to keep their costs down).

 

[Ralphalph]

Never thought I'd defend the US Telcos, but they do have to spend a lot more on infrastructure to build out networks. No offense to our friends in the UK and Europe, but there are whole countries that aren't as big as some of our states. And out west it gets even more ridiculous, because they have to build their networks to cover vast, sparsely populated areas, and deal with some massive mountain ranges.

For instance, in my home state of Colorado, the 8th largest state in the US, our land mass is more than twice that of England, with a ton of wilderness area and the Rocky Mountains running north-south throughout the state. Texas is over 5 times as big as England.

Yeah, I'm sure the plans would be cheaper if my phone only worked in one state... Really cheap for Rhode Island.

 

[oneMadRssn]

As far as individual plans go, this seems on-par with T-Mobile.

T-Mobile:
3GB Smartphone Line = $60/month

Verizon:
3GB Smartphone Line = $65/month

 

[2457282]

That is totally reasonable. I had the opposite experience. After years of terrible customer support on Verizon I decided the few extra miles of coverage wasn't worth it to me.

Do yourself a favor and try not to research the issue much. Once you know why Verizon has the best service [edit: I mean coverage]you will be far less willing to put up with them.

Oops. I was not clear that I am currently on AT&T. I fixed my original post.

 

[4jasontv]

Makes perfect sense. There are MVNO dealer/resellers for all the major networks. Each MVNO offers the same network (towers, etc.) for a lower price than the brand name. In my case, I use Cricket which is an MVNO on the AT&T Network.

The distinction is:

1. You must have a paid-in-full unlocked phone. MVNO's don't deal with subsidies or monthly phone rentals.

2. You must read the fine-print. The TOS (terms of service) are different than the underlying name-brand. For example, Most MVNO's do not allow ANY roaming outside the US whereas named carriers have either a la carte roaming (at very high per minute rates), or roaming plans with lower, but still expensive rates. Because of T-Mobile, more named carriers (and even some MVNO) are starting to offer free or lower-cost roaming to US/Canada and even other countries. In my case, Cricket just added Canada/Mexico free roaming which was a pleasant surprise.

3. Bandwidth caps and traffic shaping - MVNO's will often cap LTE at lower max speeds. e.g. Cricket limits me to 8 Mb LTE speeds which realistically is faster than I would get anyway in most areas and much faster than 4G anyway. StraightTalk, and other MVNO's have fine print that say they can throttle your traffic if the underlying network is congested.

4. Billing and customer service - MVNO's use the name-brand towers and radios, but customer service, billing, and support are all roll-their-own and often inferior (to keep their costs down).

Don't forget too that MVNOs don't pay retail prices. Their contract requires they agree to pay for their bandwidth even if they don't sell it. This savings is typically passed on to the customer to encourage them to sign up.