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Verizon To Kill All Unlimited Data Plans

Posted by samzenpus on from the no-data-for-you dept.

afabbro writes "Verizon mentioned in an investor conference that it will be eliminating unlimited data plans, even for those it grandfathered in. From the article: 'Speaking at the J.P Morgan Technology Media and Telecom conference today, Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo told investors that the company's 3G unlimited data plans that customers were allowed to hang onto last year when Verizon switched to a tiered offering will soon go away entirely. Instead, the company will migrate its existing and new 4G LTE customers to a new "data share plan." The company has yet to announce the details of this new plan, but it has said previously that the data share plan will be introduced in midsummer. The plan will allow people on the same family plan to share buckets of data each month, much like they share voice minutes and text messaging. It will also allow individuals to share data across different 4G LTE devices.'"

6 of 331 comments (clear)

  1. Congratulations, Verizon by CanHasDIY · · Score: 5, Insightful

    On chasing away a good portion of your customer base.

    If they really, really want to let me out of my contract here in a month or two, so be it. T-mobile and Sprint still have unlimited plans, so I guess that's where I'll be heading.

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    1. Re:Congratulations, Verizon by jo_ham · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And to make it "reeeeeeeal" simple for you, Verizon is within its rights to stop selling an unlimited data plan at any time, beyond the terms it initially signed you up for. I am willing to bet that there are terms in the contract that state that they can do this.

      Perhaps they wanted to have unlimited data plans initially, and now that time has moved on a little, they want to offer something else. Saying that they should never have offered it to you in the first place if they were ever planning on changing their services in the future is a little silly, especially if you're calling out the GP as an "egocentric fuck". Look who's talking - you want Verizon to offer you an unlimited data plan for the rest of time, presumably until you die or get bored of them, regardless of what Verizon does in the future (again, without looking at the terms of your contact and just seeing "lolz unlimited that means forever, no backsies, at *my* discretion and not theirs".

      Everyone is quick to demonise them, but they are making changes that people have asked for - for example, shared data plans across multiple devices and shared data among households.

  2. Dont you love... by bolthole · · Score: 5, Insightful

    how they market speak that shared plan people are "allowed to pool" their network usage. Rather than the more accurate "forced to share usage". It puts people on family plans at the mercy of their teenage daughter. DOOOOOOoooommmmm.....

  3. Re:Is this legal? by the_B0fh · · Score: 4, Insightful

    *HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA*

    And you'll get $10, where as the attorneys will get $100 mil.

  4. Not a surprise by Mr_Silver · · Score: 5, Insightful

    According to Nokia Siemens Networks, the average amount of smartphone data used per day is 15MB (about 450MB per month). If you're using ten times that amount on a grandfathered plan that costs you peanuts, it's hardly surprising that someone somewhere will run the numbers and work out that you are of no value to the company.

    By all means shout "right, that's it! I'm off to Sprint!" but it'll be a hollow victory as Verizon will probably be more than happy to see the back of you.

    --
    Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
  5. Wow, really? by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You are comparing his statement to supporting rape? I think maybe you have a problem with blowing shit out of proportion.

    As for not wanting you to use unlimited amounts of data, they don't, which is why they are changing the plan. They tried it, some people, probably you, used way too much data and wouldn't moderate usage, so they aren't selling unlimited plans anymore.

    Unlimited to many reasonable people doesn't mean "No limits at all of any kind," it means "No specific or preset limits." For example at work people have unlimited bandwidth. We have no traffic shaping, no port rate limits, you can use as much is available, which is a lot. However, it is shared among lots of people. If everyone tried to slam it 24/7 we'd get shit speeds. So you have to moderate your usage. Use it when you need it, leave it idle for others when you don't. Fail to do so and we'll notice, and come and talk to you, and if necessary cut your net off. It is "unlimited" in that we don't set any hard limits, but that doesn't mean you can use all of it all the time.

    That entitled attitude is precisely why companies have to start setting limits. People who say "They said unlimited, so I am going to stream video all day, torrent all night, and use every last bit of the bandwidth I can. It is unlimited, that is my right." Well, that gluttonous attitude is unsustainable for people to all have good access since if people won't moderate their usage, they'll impose limits to moderate it.