If they're not greedy, can you explain why AT&T just made $4B in profit DEC 2024 Y/Y, up 86% from last year (after raising prices) and just announced decreasing or eliminating credits for using certain payment and billing methods? Because that sure sounds greedy to me.
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Verizon Updates Ultimate 5G Plan With More Data and New Features
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The Auto and Airline companies are exceedingly greedy -- all of them.
I have been with Verizon continously since 1988. They have had the best coverage over the years and I drove lots of miles.
We currently have two iPhone 16 Pro Max, one iPhone 13 mini, three iPads and two Apple watches on our top tier plan for around $280 a month with all the fees and taxes. There have been few places we have gone in the USA where Verizon lacked a presence. Their international plan has been just barely adequate but the iPhone 13 mini has an actual sim card slot for a UK account when we visit my wife's family.
AT&T could not take enough interest in the land line to fix the noise that made it unusable so we have been mobile based for over five or six years. We use the only cable company in our area for one gigabit internet access and we stream all our television.
We have modified our Airstream with a commercial Peplink dual 5G v62 modem/router that has a proprietary "sim" card that goes to a provider that automatically selects between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon for the best signal at our current location with virtually unlimited data (might get heated at 2TB of data in a month). We can put the account to sleep for the months we do not use the trailer. After the initial installation of the unit and antenna, the modem will probably be on a three or four year upgrade cycle based upon when 6G hits.
We currently have two iPhone 16 Pro Max, one iPhone 13 mini, three iPads and two Apple watches on our top tier plan for around $280 a month with all the fees and taxes. There have been few places we have gone in the USA where Verizon lacked a presence. Their international plan has been just barely adequate but the iPhone 13 mini has an actual sim card slot for a UK account when we visit my wife's family.
AT&T could not take enough interest in the land line to fix the noise that made it unusable so we have been mobile based for over five or six years. We use the only cable company in our area for one gigabit internet access and we stream all our television.
We have modified our Airstream with a commercial Peplink dual 5G v62 modem/router that has a proprietary "sim" card that goes to a provider that automatically selects between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon for the best signal at our current location with virtually unlimited data (might get heated at 2TB of data in a month). We can put the account to sleep for the months we do not use the trailer. After the initial installation of the unit and antenna, the modem will probably be on a three or four year upgrade cycle based upon when 6G hits.
I've been a happy Verizon customer for almost 10 years and it's actually been the cheapest option for our 12-line family plan for a majority of that time.
In the past I had the $100 unlimited 4G bucket plan and you just added lines at $20/each, and everyone received the unlimited benefits. That was way cheaper than ATT and Tmobile, even without any additional corporate discounts. Then, I made a boo-boo by upgrading my phone instead of paying for it outright and lost that great unlimited 4G plan. Oh well, live and learn.
I've compared pricing with Tmobile and it would only save us $50 a month on our 12-line plan...not enough for me to consider switching, and that was before Tmo started increasing their prices.
The Verizon Ultimate Unlimited is actually a pretty good option in my mind and I've switched two lines to UU ahead of our trip to Europe. For us, Verizon UU is only $55/month and a better alternative than the $100 International plan add-on. There are three of us traveling but my main line has banked 14 free TravelPass days so that will cover me for the entirety of the trip. When we did a Mediterranean cruise two years ago I used Google Fi for the second eSIM and that worked well (for Android), but this time UU looks more attractive for two iPhones and free TravelPass on my Fold6.
In the past I had the $100 unlimited 4G bucket plan and you just added lines at $20/each, and everyone received the unlimited benefits. That was way cheaper than ATT and Tmobile, even without any additional corporate discounts. Then, I made a boo-boo by upgrading my phone instead of paying for it outright and lost that great unlimited 4G plan. Oh well, live and learn.
I've compared pricing with Tmobile and it would only save us $50 a month on our 12-line plan...not enough for me to consider switching, and that was before Tmo started increasing their prices.
The Verizon Ultimate Unlimited is actually a pretty good option in my mind and I've switched two lines to UU ahead of our trip to Europe. For us, Verizon UU is only $55/month and a better alternative than the $100 International plan add-on. There are three of us traveling but my main line has banked 14 free TravelPass days so that will cover me for the entirety of the trip. When we did a Mediterranean cruise two years ago I used Google Fi for the second eSIM and that worked well (for Android), but this time UU looks more attractive for two iPhones and free TravelPass on my Fold6.
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Want to know where the majority of the profits from the big telcos goes? Straight back to investors in the form of dividends, and capital investments, aka 'new fiber builds'.
So either the shareholders are greedy (because they pick these 'profitable' stocks for investments), or you're greedy, as your 401(k)/retirement funds rely on dividends and other growth vehicles that results from these profits.
Also, the capital investments are what fund American job growth, infrastructure for business and other needs to help the country keep pace with communication needs.
You can't have it both ways - companies need to make money to invest in all the things that explicitly benefit you and your neighbors. Alternately, they go out of business.
That's not that much different than many US plans, except in them the text and talk would be unlimiting and the area covered by unlimited data is much larger so you never have to worry about rowing an during uproar data allocation for roaming.
The EU has a great cell phone industry expect its roaming policies are a throwback and should be revised to let the EU be one common cell phone service area with no roaming fees allowed and you get the same data/talk/etc. limits as you do in your home country, and you can move to another country and not have to change your number to avoid fees.
Sounds like the right plan for you, just as others are better for other users.
Yea, that's why companies exist - too make money; and they charge what will get them the best return based on the market.
Yep. This is ridiculous. It should be illegal to advertise "unlimited" if there are limits. "Unlimited" should be as much full speed 5G data as you can pull with a 24/7 download running, and on phone vs hotspot shouldn't make any difference. If you're not offering that and you advertise "unlimited" anywhere, straight to jail.
I completely agree that the phone/hotspot distinction is a manufactured one, designed solely for the lining of the cellular companies’ pockets. Data is data.
Stand by—AT&T’s about to pull the same stunt. That’s just how late-stage capitalism rolls: innovation fueled by squeezing the customer, not serving them.
I’m still with AT&T because, well, that’s what I started with when Uncle Steve handed us all iPhones back in 2006—back when Apple actually thought differently.
But now? It’s all about keeping shareholders fat and happy while the rest of us get less for more.
Honestly, I’m at the point where I miss my flip phone. Just open it, 10-key out a text, snap it shut, and toss it in my pocket. Simpler times—and more affordable, back when my lunch money could buy a home.
I’m still with AT&T because, well, that’s what I started with when Uncle Steve handed us all iPhones back in 2006—back when Apple actually thought differently.
But now? It’s all about keeping shareholders fat and happy while the rest of us get less for more.
Honestly, I’m at the point where I miss my flip phone. Just open it, 10-key out a text, snap it shut, and toss it in my pocket. Simpler times—and more affordable, back when my lunch money could buy a home.
I get the distinct impression a bunch of the people posting from the EU don't get that the USA - one country - is well over twice the size of all the countries in the entire EU put together. You could drive from Southern California to Maine, a drive of about 3,200 miles (5,100 km), taking roughly 48 hours of continuous driving at freeway speeds, and you'd still be in the same country.
Yes, the wireless carriers are charging too much for their premium plans (MVNOs are much cheaper - I pay $20/mo for far more data than I can use, plus unlimited talk/text - and Mint's latest "unlimited" plans are $15/mo), but also it costs a lot more to maintain that much wireless infrastructure.
Not sure that's the best example, I was playing PoGo pretty hardcore for a couple years, and it took a few GB/mo, but nothing like streaming video - the few times I got up in the 8-10GB region, back then, it was from streaming YouTube for my nieces.
That's one of the few apps I use a lot on data.
You can save a lot of data for it too by downloading the app's assets in the game settings.
I was a loyal customer since it was Commnet (think more than 20 years) and they still screwed me over, so….just don’t ask them to do anything crazy, like honor their phone deals.
Like I said, I just use Visible and pay $100 for 4 lines—and it uses Verizon’s network still. Heck it is owned by Verizon. The only drawback is there is no phone line for support. You have to use chat or email. Which works fine and I don’t have to talk to a bunch of people that can’t help anyway.
And there is something refreshing about not getting free things and just paying for the raw phone service.
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Except none advertise unlimited high speed data, if you read their TOCs they are pretty clear what unlimited still means, you have no data caps but may get reduced speeds depending on usage and network congestion. Unlimited is a marketing ploy, and one that has become common usage. It keeps the small percentage of users who would run 24/7 servers or nonstop streaming from making the system worse for most of the users; who never get close to data usage that would result in throttling.
I agree the hotspot move should not be in place, it's more of an attempt to be able to sell home internet, because if I could use my phone as a home wifi setup and get 24/7 high speed data, even with congestion and occasional slowingdata I'd dump my home internet, which companies don't want because of the revenue loss.
While Visible is owned by Verizon, and on the sane network, I've read Visible customers are deprioritized on the network. A hundred for four lines is pretty good, but you can get that right now too, and four free iPhones, on Verizon and Tmobile.
Personally, we've always received excellent coverage and customer service from Verizon so I haven't been tempted to leave for another carrier. I still comparison shop every now and then out of curiosity but the "savings" are too meager to switch my 12-line family plan. Verizon has been very good to us for close to a decade. Tmobile can't do a 12-line family plan, you have to split it up into two accounts. I am not a Verizon diehard and admit their 5G Home internet product was disappointing and slower than my phone, but with regard to cell phone service Verizon has been tops for us.
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Prepaid plans are perfect for those that only buy phones directly from Apple/Samsung/Google etc and don't travel out of country
These plans are very misleading. 4 iPhones on us, provided you have the credit limit available with them for purchase and want to keep their line for 3 years
True, three years feels longish, but iPhone innovation has been pretty stagnant for several generations. It is not really necessary to upgrade an iPhone every year, or even every two years nowadays.
As for the credit, I'm sure you're right that people need to qualify for the promo but I've never been turned down by any carrier, for any promos, on a family plan for 25 years. These promos are designed to attract new customers and if someone really doesn't qualify then that's too bad but I feel the majority shouldn't have a problem with eligibility.
We buy all our cellular related devices for cash thus no handcuffs on how or when to change or discard any device.
We had four remote Peplink modems with minimal data plans for remote access to thermostats, garage doors etc. and Verizon allowed me to change individual data plans as needed. Then one day, avarice set in and all four had to be on the same plan. These four devices were gone the next day to T-Mobile for $5 a month vs Verizon's $30 minimum each for minimal data.
We will remain with Verizon for our seven other devices as we have a good plan for us.
We had four remote Peplink modems with minimal data plans for remote access to thermostats, garage doors etc. and Verizon allowed me to change individual data plans as needed. Then one day, avarice set in and all four had to be on the same plan. These four devices were gone the next day to T-Mobile for $5 a month vs Verizon's $30 minimum each for minimal data.
We will remain with Verizon for our seven other devices as we have a good plan for us.