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Verizon Droid Tethering Comes At a Hefty Price

Posted by timothy on from the unlimited-and-5GB-are-not-the-same dept.

Pickens writes "Tom Bradley reports in PC World that the new Motorola Droid smartphone will cost users $199.99 with a 2-year contract, with an additional $30 per month for the mandatory 'unlimited' data plan that has a monthly cap of 5Gb. Verizon will charge $50 for each additional gigabyte over the 5Gb limit on the unlimited data plan. Verizon has confirmed that tethering will cost another $30 per month for an additional unlimited data plan that is also limited to 5Gb. If you want tethering you will pay $60 above and beyond the monthly contract for service for an 'unlimited' 10Gb of data per month, and if you plan on connecting with an Microsoft Exchange email account you have to pay another $15 a month. 'Verizon seems to be doing everything it can to make the Droid as unappealing as possible by nickel and diming customers so that actually using it is not cost-effective,' writes Bradley. 'After all of the hype around Verizon's marketing efforts, and generally favorable reviews of the Motorola Droid, users that rush out to get the new device may be in for a shock.' Droid users will have to wait until sometime in 2010 for tethering. 'That service is on our schedule for next year,' says Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney. The delay is because 'the service has to be tested on the phone so until we know it works, we don't offer the service. It is not uncommon for us to introduce the phone and continue to test the service and offer it later.'"

14 of 555 comments (clear)

  1. It'd be nice if they stopped lying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the plan is limited, it's not "unlimited", so please stop pretending. No, any cap is a cap is not no cap is not "unlimited". How many marketeers do you need to fire to stop believing otherwise, verizon?

    1. Re:It'd be nice if they stopped lying. by ultraexactzz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It seems like there would be some agency to complain to when a company advertises something that isn't true...

      --
      Never underestimate the potential of Human stupidity. -Heinlein
    2. Re:It'd be nice if they stopped lying. by buckhead_buddy · · Score: 5, Funny

      You misunderstand; it's the fees that are unlimited rather than the service provided.

      A "limited" account would have a cap on how much Verizon could potentially charge you per month.

    3. Re:It'd be nice if they stopped lying. by obi1one · · Score: 5, Informative

      Strange, this indicates that verizon got in trouble for this exact practice back in 2007 and was supposed to stop.

    4. Re:It'd be nice if they stopped lying. by Improv · · Score: 5, Funny

      Of course not. We let the market decide, because in our faith, consumers have the time and ability to be perfectly rational and omniscent in the economic sense. Any time a consumer is decieved, it's because they have sinned, and so they deserve it. To stand in the way of the invisible hand is to deny the will of God (or society, or something) ... :)

      --
      For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
    5. Re:It'd be nice if they stopped lying. by Civil_Disobedient · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, the Federal Trade Commission. Their teeth are about as sharp and fearsome as an earthworm:

      The goal is prevention rather than punishment, reflecting the purpose of civil law in setting things right rather than that of criminal law. The typical sanction is to order the advertiser to stop its illegal acts, or to include disclosure of additional information that serves to avoid the chance of deception. Corrective advertising may be mandated. But there are no fines or prison time except for the infrequent instances when an advertiser refuses to stop despite being ordered to do so. [emphasis added]

      So, kind of like a police officer running after a purse-snatcher yelling, "Stop! Or I'll yell stop again!"

  2. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    These aren't the Droids I'm looking for

  3. Microsoft Exchange email account you ...$15 by wiredog · · Score: 5, Informative

    No. Not any Exchange account, only the one that is provided by Verizon. Connecting to your corporate account doesn't cost anything extra. Other than getting the data plan.

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
  4. Summary is dead wrong by ericrost · · Score: 5, Informative

    The data plan is, in fact, unlimited. I go over 5 GB a month on my current Verizon phone regularly. This is no different. Tethering specifically has a 5 GB limit which is stated in the contract for it. There are also readily available hacks to make tethering work on an Android phone.

    --
    My Babylon
  5. Wrong Information by noc007 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This crap has been circling the web and it's not completely accurate. With the $30 and $45 data plans for smartphones, you get unlimited data for the phone itself. If you want to tether, it's an additional $30 for the $30 plan or $15 for the $45 plan and will allow you 5GB of tethered data and unlimited on the phone. In any case, if you want to tether and be within their TOS, you need to pay $60. It's still possible to tether without the extra cost and their software, it's just not within their TOS

    The difference between the $30 and $45 data plan isn't documented well and leads to a lot of confusion. I fault VZW for not getting this strait. All the $45 gets you is access their WirelessSync service and supposedly allow you to do Exchange ActiveSync within the TOS. The $30 plan CAN DO Exchange ActiveSync, but it's supposedly not ok within their poorly documented TOS and every VZW employee will tell you that you need the $45 plan if you're going to do Exchange ActiveSync.

    If you do use a lot of data on your phone, VZW can cancel your data account according to their TOS. I've used >5GB/month without a peep from VZW and any additional charge on my bill. It has been said in HoFo, if the data usage is extreme by VZW opionion, they could consider that your must be doing something that's violating the TOS. If VZW was smart, they wouldn't do much canceling since they're launching a bunch of Android phones and saying streaming YouTube and music is ok, which obviously will soak up a lot of bandwidth.

    I suggest that Pickens and the article author do some fact checking before publishing assumptions and hearsay.

  6. Re:Free market by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I should have expected that Verizon would come up with an 'unlimited' but capped at 5 GB plan. Guess it'll be the iPhone after all.

    So you don't want to get the Droid, because Verizon is evil and calls their plan unlimited when it's really 5 GB/month. Fair enough. Then, you decide to turn to the iPhone, where Apple pulls apps because they dare to compete with AT&T? I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're trading one evil master for another, not getting a better situation.

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    "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
  7. PC World Has it out for the Droid by limaxray · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm convinced PC World has it out for the Droid and has only been carrying negative articles about it. This article is particularly misleading. First of all, the unlimited phone data plan IS unlimited - it's the tethering, WAN card, Mifi, etc plans that are limited to 5GB a month. Just head over to the Verizon website and check out the fine print. Now the catch is if they think you're tethering without a tether plan (which is really easy to do) they'll charge you for tethering. So if you use 10GB a month of phone data (which, lets be honest here, is not realistic using just your phone) they'll hit you for tethering.

    Next, the $15 a month for Exchange is if you're an enterprise customer. I'm not really sure what that means - if they host the account for you, or handle some extra securtity stuff, or what - but if you're just average Joe user with your own personal account, you won't need to pay it. There is no problem using Exchange with the regular personal data plan.

    These facts can easily be confirmed by checking out Verizon's website, but the boys over at PCWorld are too busy making out with their iPhones to do any fact checking.

  8. Re:Free market by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is a highly deregulated industry...

    Which allows collusion, continued high prices and lackluster service.

  9. Re:MOD PARENT DOWN by ender- · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That was tried in the UK with ADSL providers advertising "unlimited" broadband. They got around it by reclassifying exactly what is unlimited - it is now "unlimited access" so at any time 24/7/365.25 you can have access, but it isn't unlimited bandwidth.

    Except that the website does not advertise "unlimited access". The text on the website reads, and I quote, "Unlimited Data for Mobile Web and Get it Now/Media Center".

    It says quite clearly, "unlimited data". I know that Verizon [and the other telcos] will happily fight and say there's fine print somewhere that says otherwise, but please, there *HAS* to be some lawyer out there who's good enough to get a judge to realize that this is nothing but false advertising, and some pretty obvious bait-and-switch tactics.

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