Verizon to Offer iPhone With $30 Unlimited Data Plan

[splashnader]

Thanks for the heads up that Verizon is planning to screw over everyone the moment they switch, ala the "unlimited data" 3G iPad with AT&T. Well, I suppose we have an issue with both carriers price fixing and both determined to screw over the customers... Here I was hoping Verizon would be a better carrier and provoke AT&T to do likewise...

See that's just the thing about this whole switch. AT&T has basically, for the moment anyway, come along and capped their plans at 2GB a month. They have rewarded their loyal customers by grandfathering them in allowing them to keep their unlimited plans. I would assume that Verizon may end up doing the very same thing. In essence get people to become Verizon customers by using the unlimited data plan as bait and then after a year or so go back to tiered plans with caps. Verizon could then grandfather those customers already on the unlimited plan in and then setup tiered rates for new customers just like AT&T. In the end I see both carriers pretty much even in terms of pricing. You may save a few dollars here and there, but I don't see there being a great disparity.

 

[Msls]

This changes everything.. I was gonna do.

For someone like me who has would have no problem staying under 200mb a month (cause i wave wifi everywhere i go mostly) This really screws me over. My contract was up this Feb., so i convinced myself to go ahead and get the iPhone now and suck it up when the new one comes out.... but now, im not going to buy a massive $30 data plan for something ill never use and be locked in a 2yr... ill just wait when the other pricing options come out later in March or April, ...which means I might as well just stick it out and wait for the new iPhone in June. What the hell Verizon!!

 

[srxtr]

Let's do some math.
500Gb a month
say there is 31 days in a month, thats about 16Gbs a day for every single day

now lets say you use your phone/tether 16 hours each day and get 8 hours of sleep, that means that for the time you are awake, you are using 1Gb PER HOUR

or, say you don't sleep, then its .7Gbs EVERY HOUR for 744 hours in a month (of 31 days).....

I really want to believe you.... but I think I'm gonna call BS on this, but who knows......

.7GBs is 700 MB per hour.

That's about 194kb / sec.

Maybe he torrents all day and night.

 

[srxtr]

Anyone else wish to add who is better?

AT&T PROs

• Faster Network
• Much larger global access
• Free Wifi
• Rollover Minutes
• Concurrent Voice and Data Access
• Lower "entry point" to service ($15)

Verizon PROs

• Larger 3G Footprint in US
• Lower dropped call rate (especially in San Fran and NY)

AT&T may have a bigger list but Verizon has the most important point (when it comes to phones): Lower dropped call rate (especially in San Fran and NY)

But it's not like we use our iPhone for calling people... right?

 

[cameronjpu]

For someone like me who has would have no problem staying under 200mb a month (cause i wave wifi everywhere i go mostly) This really screws me over. My contract was up this Feb., so i convinced myself to go ahead and get the iPhone now and suck it up when the new one comes out.... but now, im not going to buy a massive $30 data plan for something ill never use and be locked in a 2yr... ill just wait when the other pricing options come out later in March or April, ...which means I might as well just stick it out and wait for the new iPhone in June. What the hell Verizon!!

You'll be free to switch to lower plans when they are implemented.

 

[robvas]

Do you keep your wifi off or not have wifi at home or work?

I use wifi at home and at work, but I don't really use it anywhere else.

 

[srxtr]

Yeah, a small data cap that 98% of users fall under, according to ATT.

Isn't 2% of users still hundreds of thousands of users?

So forget the percentage, hundreds of thousands of users require more than the 2GB limit on their iPhone.

 

[srxtr]

I have unlimited data plan already, but I never go over 2 GB every month.

I never go over 2 GB every month because I'm always on an available wifi network.

I'm always on an available wifi network because AT&T 3G coverage sucks in my area.

Conclusion: 98% of AT&T iPhone users don't need unlimited data plan because a lot of the times data won't work anyway.

 

[cameronjpu]

Isn't 2% of users still hundreds of thousands of users?

So forget the percentage, hundreds of thousands of users require more than the 2GB limit on their iPhone.

Yep, and screw 'em. They're hurting me and another 97 out of every 100 people with their excessive use. ATT has a simple and eminently fair solution - another 2 GB is buyable at a very fair rate. Buy it and stop pissing on the rest of us.

 

[NoStopN]

I hope this is true but t-mobile and AT&T have in the past advertised "unlimited" data when it was actually 5GB. so it's confusing (at least to me) -- I would like to find out for sure if this is actually truly unlimited, if so it would be a major reason to consider the iPhone. If you jailbreak it and add tethering (or even pay for tethering) it would be pretty awesome.

Trust me, AT&T's unlimited IS unlimited. See the next sentence.

AT&T does not have a limit. I and many others are using 20 GB+ a month.

Downloading, downloading, downloading

I'm halfway through this month's billing cycle & I'm at 12GB. Not just downloading, but streaming radio, YouTube, & now StreetFire apps. Plus, I have the Skyfire web browser, so when I want to watch a Flash video, that uses data.

Thats why Im never leaving Sprint... no dropped calls and the pricing is great... Sprint will have the iphone in due time. You cant beat $110 for unlimited text, data and phone.

I can beat $110 for unlimited text, data & phone. Even without my company discount, it would come out $5-10 less. I'm just saying.

i have the unlimited $30 plan on verizon with my blackberry, and its truly unlimited. i hit 500 gb last month with no penalties.

Is that a typo? I've only hit 5% of that amount. And most people would say I'm a heavy user.

 

[gta50419]

wow this is ********, so you HAVE to pay $30 extra just to get a iphone 4 on verizon instead of just $15?
verizon must think everyone rich,guess ill be going to at&t then.

 

[macnews]

I think these data plans with unlimited whatever, really is all about playing on fears or feel good factors of having "unlimited" whatever.

Regardless, competition is good and either Verizon will drop or cause AT&T to increase their limits. Bring it on.

 

[quetzalcoatl]

Anyone else wish to add who is better?

AT&T PROs

• Faster Network
• Much larger global access
• Free Wifi
• Rollover Minutes
• Concurrent Voice and Data Access
• Lower "entry point" to service ($15)

Verizon PROs

• Larger 3G Footprint in US
• Lower dropped call rate (especially in San Fran and NY)

The free wifi only matters if you are in one of the big cities that AT&T setup a wifi zone in. Since everyone of their partners now offers free wifi, Barnes and Noble, McD, and Starbucks are all free to everyone not just AT&T customers. And the only reason AT&T did the wifi zones is because their ervice in those areas was hurting so much they had to do something.

But I would add unlimited data as a plus to Verizon. And the faster network would only pertain to an iPhone not all phones since LTE is in most, if not all, cases is going to be faster.

 

[Slim02]

Comcast home broadband says unlimited. And it says capped at 250GB in the fine print. Or 150, I forget. A couple months I came within 60% of the cap, never really got close.


Hmm, I tend to average 25-30mph when congested. So 5x that would be lots of fun!

To get a phone subsidy, any phone, you will need a calling plan with contract. If you already have a plan, you just need to add data for a smartphone. (and a 2 year contract) I believe this is the same for ATT, VZW, and TMob. (well, no iPhone on TMob) You might be able to play games with only an iPad data plan, at least on ATT with the SIM cards.

I hate to bust your bubble put Comcast does not say Unlimited Broadband Internet.. Unlimited Calling yes but not internet.. They have not said Unlimited to their Internet for 3 years now right after they added the Cap..

http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Le...ghspeedinternet.html?INTCMP=ILCCOMCOMHS162957

Where in that link dose it say Unlimited High Speed Internet.. No where and they haven't for years..

 

[DiamondMac]

Yep, and screw 'em. They're hurting me and another 97 out of every 100 people with their excessive use. ATT has a simple and eminently fair solution - another 2 GB is buyable at a very fair rate. Buy it and stop pissing on the rest of us.

How do you know 97 out of 100 people don't go over or near it? Because AT&T tells you? I am surrounded by people who are as far away from "tech" guru's as possible and everyone seems to be using more and more data, more apps, more friends sending youtube clips, etc....everyday.....and why is above that rate 'excessive'?

I don't use video or stream music but come upon 2gb's almost monthly. How does that make me an abuser? Because I maybe read a few more apps offline? Because I....GASP!!!!....streamed Pandora for 5 minutes last week?

Getting to 2gb's is not that hard for people who use the iPhone/iPad for uses that it was BOUGHT FOR

 

[twoodcc]

glad to see this, but not a surprise really. i am tempted to switch

 

[seedster2]

Copying the 2008 iPhone! Coming soon: Verizon network congested.

You have continuously repeated that prediction, with little evidence to back it up.

great, so if you use 50-100MB per month, you can pay the same as someone who uses 4-5GB. great plan Verizon, I'll stick with AT&T and my $15 200MB plan.

You say this as if AT&T changed their tiered plan to benefit its users at their expense. They are trying to ease the stress on their oversaturated network

I am actually disappointed that Verizon isn't being more aggressive in their pricing.

I've been hoping for some real competition between the two and so far I haven't seen any yet.

Both companies will initially try to sway customers by the virtues of their network first. Verizon with their coverage and reliability and AT&T with their network's speed and simultaneous voice and data. If that fails, they will either buy some competitors. Competing on price is a last ditch effort

Once you use it, you can't live without it. It's a great feature....and all of you Verizon users have been left in the dark by your leader (Verizon). How can anyone argue against having it as an option? You Verizon Fanboys amaze me.

I use it extensively. But who's to say it is representative of the general pop.?

there are many times I would trade my suspect service for Verizon. After all, many of the same people complaining about the necessity for simultaneous voice and data happily bought the first iteration and mocked everyone who complained about not having 3g.

If you are using more than 15GB month then you need to put down the phone and start enjoying life.

I would agree that is an astronomical amount to use on a monthly basis. He's certainly getting his value out of his contract.

AT&T may have a bigger list but Verizon has the most important point (when it comes to phones): Lower dropped call rate (especially in San Fran and NY)

But it's not like we use our iPhone for calling people... right?

It's true. Despite AT&T's claims of improvement. I have yet to experience it in Manhattan or California

 

[ExiledMafia]

stop complaining because you know verizon is a much better carrier

I don't understand why everyone is giving verizon such a bad rep. Seriously unlimited means unlimited, I've used more than 5gb on my phone a couple of time without any hastle. And did you actually think they were gonna give the hotspot feature for free? Seriously?! If I wanted it on my android I would have to pay, I mean how many times are you really with your laptop without internet. In fact my smartphone has basically replaced my laptop. Also I mean its looks as if verizon is expensive, but in all honesty their family plans are reasonable. Finally I don't care if I can surf the web while talking on my phone. I mean for me I find myself using the phone as a phone less and less. And when I'm talking on it never had i said man this person is really boring I wish i could surf the web, really the phone call will last 2 minutes if you can't wait that long put the phone down and take a step back from technology. Thats my 2 sense...

 

[Steelers7510]

Verizon's idea of unlimited usually has a 5GB cap...trust me.

Not true I have went over 5GB consistently for the last 5 months with my DROID X and they have never contacted me telling me to stop nor have i ever been charged anymore.