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Verizon To Kill All Unlimited Data Plans
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.'"
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
How long before AT&T follows suit?
"God does not play Minecraft with the world." - Albert Einstein
With the el-cheapo carriers heavily advertising their cut-rate plans, how long can AT&T and Verizon keep it up? Why would anyone pay $80/month when they can get the same service from another carrier for less than $50?
Unless the big boys start offering either better service or lower prices, how will they stay in business?
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
They're sort of like a tick that attaches itself to a host and keep engorging itself until it pops.
It's gotten itself firmly attached to the wallets of 93 million people. Now it's sucking hard. The pop will come enough...
http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/verizon-quarterly-revenues-q1-2012/
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
Too bad. They used to be better than the rest. Those were the days. It's unfortunate that they're such dimwits too. Yes, capacity is a problem, until up put a mini-switch/router on every 12th telephone and power pole and then it isn't. The technical problem is solvable, but they'd have to spend some money renting space, placing and maintaining equipment and getting easements. Stock prices would fall for a quarter and some exec wouldn't waddle away with the bonus he truly believes he deserves.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
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.....
*HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA*
And you'll get $10, where as the attorneys will get $100 mil.
Verizon's unlimited 3G meant I could play Pandora through my phone while I was driving without worrying about data caps. :s And they have very good coverage from what I noticed. I guess this means I'll just have to actually use my iPod or something, assuming I can remember where I put it and a way to set it up to either play through the car radio or into my hearing aid.
My contract is up anyhow and I need to trim down expenses. I have the HTC Droid Incredible, which is a nifty enough little phone. All I really need is texting, email, and maybe some minimum amount of minutes. A camera on it would be convenient. I really don't want to move from Verizon because I know their coverage is solid, but I don't want to reward their greedy data tier plan behavior. Any recommendations?
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.
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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.
The simple solution is for everybody to start calling Verizon to inquire about data plans, get support for anything and everything-- and even just to find out how your favorite verizon person is getting along. Call now. Call often. In fact, don't stop calling. Call, call call. Choke their lines, make it hurt. Plus, I'd bet that it'd be a great idea to check out all their wonderful offerings on their web sites-- all of them-- a lot. Check your bill. Twice. Make sure you read it right. In fact, have your wife / coworker / friend / friend's mom / neighbor-down-the-street / heck, all of 'em read it twice just to make sure you didn't miss anything. You might also want to call their sales line to find out about all their great offerings and add-ons. I'll bet they have a *ton* of cool stuff you could buy. But I know it's hard to decide right away. In fact, you might have to really get them to explain it carefully with plenty of detail in order to fully grasp the sheer awesomeness of their products. In fact, you might even have to think about it some and then call back and ask them to explain anything you didn't completely get the first time. You could also call them to tell them what a wonderful job you think they're doing. I'm sure they don't hear that anywhere near enough. You could really brighten up some verizon employee's day by calling them up just to tell them. And you know, all of the verizon employees do a terrific job and I'd be willing to bet they'd ALL enjoy hearing your opinion! Plus you should also call their bosses to congratulate them. And send emails-- lots of emails. Calling isn't the only way to let them know what a superb job you think they're doing.
You know, with all their loyal, friendly customers and fanatical fans-- they just couldn't bear the thought of taking away their unlimited Internet...