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Verizon Wireless Goes Ahead With 'Bucket' Data Plans
CanHasDIY writes "Previously, it was reported that Verizon was considering eliminating their current data plan scheme, as well as the grandfathered unlimited plans, in favor of a new 'bucket' plan in which up to 10 devices would share a data allotment. Verizon has now officially acknowledged the new scheme, called the 'Share Everything' plan, which will go into effect as of June 28, 2012. According to USA Today, 'Under the new pricing plan, a smartphone customer opting for the cheapest data bucket, 1 gigabyte, will pay $90 before taxes and fees ($40 for phone access and $50 for 1 GB). Customers can add a basic phone, laptop and tablet to share data for $30, $20 and $10, respectively.' Those of us still grandfathered into the unlimited plan will be forced (when upgrading) to either sign up for Share Everything or one of the tiered pricing plans currently in effect."
Looks like the prepaid phone market's getting another customer when my Verizon contract ends.
$50 for 1 gigabyte of data?!? That's insane!
DID you not see the BIT about them dropping all THEIR other plans? So there's plenty point TO comparing these new prices to existing one-LINE Verizon prices as Verizon CUSTOMERS will soon be paying these prices or no LONGER be Verizon customers.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
Unless the other carrier follows suit, how on Earth do they expect to keep customers?
Odds are good that they're trying to see if other carriers follow suit. Back in the days before the Internet, 1 airline would raise prices at 4:45 PM on Friday afternoon, see if the other airlines raised their prices to match over the weekend, and if they didn't then lower the prices back down at 8:15 AM on Monday morning. Legally, that's not price fixing, even though in practice it is.
I am officially gone from
The key phrase here is "major cities only". If you were in the US and you were only going to use your phone in major cities, you wouldn't have signed up for Verizon, which has always had the highest prices in exchange for deep penetration into rural areas. Instead, you would sign up for Cricket, Boost, MetroPCS, or a similar carrier that only has coverage in major cities.
By "keep my own money", you mean "give all my money to the corporations that price gouge me", right?
Yup. I have a lot of friends and family in rural areas. For most of them, it's Verizon or nothing. They put a lot of effort into remote areas; I've even heard of them doing things like airlifting towers into forests and on top of mountains.
I live near a major city and have Virgin Mobile, which uses Sprint's network. I'm paying $45/mo for 1200 minutes and unlimited text/data (4G even, although it's crappy WiMAX), no contract. The coverage in my neighborhood is actually better than Verizon, and I have no problems in smallish cities and along interstates that go through the middle of nowhere. It is annoying to go without service when I visit my family, but not enough to justify spending twice as much for one lousy gig of data and a 2-year contract.
If Americans traveled outside their own country more then they wouldn't accept the prices they pay.
I hear this all the time, but the reason for this is the size of the country and the lack of nearby countries that aren't named Canada or Mexico. To get anywhere out of the country other than that is out of the budget of most Americans.
Check your sources and pay attention to what you're comparing. Read the source data of that chart to understand what you're looking at. For a little more detailed information about taxes in Germany see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany
It isn't nearly that bad, not even absolutely. It's a wash when you consider that our countries don't eat the money but use it to provide services for free or cheaply which individuals must pay for in the US.
So get a prepaid cell phone plan and use free wifi for the data.
Some of us have jobs and can't hang out at McDonald's all day. Some of us live and/or work in rural areas and don't have any McDonald's or other free wifi close by.
Please stop giving out ProTips. You kinda suck at it.