Verizon Wireless Goes Ahead With 'Bucket' Data Plans

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Verizon Wireless Goes Ahead With 'Bucket' Data Plans

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday June 13, 2012 @08:40AM from the just-what-nobody-wanted dept.

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."

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Oh really? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-13 08:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

Looks like the prepaid phone market's getting another customer when my Verizon contract ends.
1. Re:Oh really? by schwit1 · 2012-06-13 09:19 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I just got the HTC EVO V on Virgin Mobile
  $45/month with 1200 minutes and unlimited data.
  4G, Android 4.0 and it's a hotspot.
What the Hell??? by jtownatpunk.net · 2012-06-13 08:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

$50 for 1 gigabyte of data?!? That's insane!
1. Re:What the Hell??? by Baloroth · 2012-06-13 09:00 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  You are being a little dense. Previously, up to 2GB of data would have cost me $30 a month. Now it will cost $50 a month, for 1GB. Before that, $30 would have gotten unlimited data.
  So from a consumer point of view, the deal has gotten worse and worse. And it still costs money to add devices to the plan for data sharing, leaving this an all-around shitty deal.
  
  --
  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
2. Re:What the Hell??? by TheScarryKitty · 2012-06-13 09:01 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  You should listen the Marketplace Tech Report by John Moe about this. He asks the Verizon rep "why?" and there is a 10 second uncomfortable pause followed by a incoherent, rambling, talking point type response.
  http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/verizon-trying-stamp-out-unlimited-data-customers/n
  Laughed my ass off listening to it on the radio.
3. Re:What the Hell??? by chromas · 2012-06-13 09:11 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  1) Subscribe to their service
  2) Leave
  3) Profit
4. Re:What the Hell??? by Man+On+Pink+Corner · 2012-06-13 09:20 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  How do you reconcile your statement with the Q&A from the article?
  
  Q: I'm single and I just want a smartphone, that's it. The cheapest Shared Everything plan looks pretty expensive at $90 per month, and that's with just 1 gigabyte of data. Is there no alternative?
  A: There's one cheaper plan, intended for first-time smartphone buyers. It gives you unlimited calling and texting, and just 300 megabytes of data per month. If you're frugal with data usage, that will get you by. It costs $80 per month.
  If USA Today is making that up, as you claim elsewhere, they have one hell of a lawsuit coming from Verizon. They would have yanked the quoted text the second someone told them how badly they'd gotten it wrong. Why is it still up there?
5. Re:What the Hell??? by Baloroth · 2012-06-13 09:23 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Actually the current plans are going away. You can still use them if you already have one, but they are no longer available for new customers or customers who are upgrading to a smartphone. You also can't hang on to old unlimited data plans if you are upgrading, period (unless you pay full price for the phone, of course, although don't be surprised if Verizon "helpfully" upgrades you to the new plans anyways, wireless carriers have been known to do that in the past), though they can shift to a tiered plan, for now. Expect Verizon to phase those out completely as well in 2-3 years, just like they are with their unlimited data plans.
  
  --
  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
6. Re:What the Hell??? by LordLimecat · 2012-06-13 09:26 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Because then youd miss out on the world renowned Verizon customer service experience!
  Oh wait.
7. Re:What the Hell??? by C_amiga_fan · 2012-06-13 09:32 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  This interview is hilarious:
  Verizon Spokeswoman: We think that people need to go to a usage-based model for data and pay for the amount of usage that they're using so that everybody is able to access the network...... And we're charging on the megabytes of data that they use.
  John Moe: Why?
  Spokeswoman: Uh................... er................... cough............... People have changed the usage of how they're using their devices. They're moving to using more data, and to ensure the speed and reliability and the access to the network, people are paying for the amount of data that they use.
  LINK - http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/verizon-trying-stamp-out-unlimited-data-customers
  
  --
  FREE magazine : http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prior/
8. Re:What the Hell??? by Jon_S · 2012-06-13 13:22 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  OK, verizon, so then go ahead and charge me by the megabyte (or gigabyte). They aren't doing that.
  They require at least a $50 base charge (supposedly made palatable because it also includes the voice and text -"now unlimited!' - I never used up my voice and text quotas!) for 1 GB. Can I just pay per gigabyte after that? No. If I upgrade my dumb phone to a smart phone so I can use that data, I have to pay an extra $20 - $30/mo. *with no extra data* (adding a smart phone to the plan is $40/mo. Right now, adding a dumb phone to a family plan is only $10 plus $10 for text).
  Every time one wants to "share" the rationed GB's with another device, one has to pay $20 - $40 /mo. extra for no more data. That's not paying by the GB.
  Stop lying through your teeth VZW! If bandwidth is limited, then just sell it by the GB.
9. Re:What the Hell??? by Rei · 2012-06-13 22:06 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I don't get why utilities are so expensive in the US.
  Here in Iceland, we're considered an expensive country. And you should expect the same sort of thing with anything having to do with data, since it's not exactly cheap to run underseas cables to us, and all the electronics hardware has to be imported, and not nearly in as much bulk as places like the US can buy in. So why is it that our utilities on things involving data are so cheap?
  For my phone, I use NOVA. Since I don't call much and text in-network, I get the free, per-usage voice/text plan. The data plans available are 1GB for $7,60 or 10GB for $23, both at 5 MB/s. And coverage? We have one-7th the population density of Iowa. Here's Síminn's 2G coverage and here's 3G coverage (note that the population here is clustered around the coasts, there's no permanent residents in the interior and that you can't even drive on the few roads in the interior without a high-clearance 4x4). You can get 3G on some glaciers here! I was facebooking from the top of a mountain last weekend.
  Or TV, for example. From Síminn, which I subscribe to, the base package is $7,60, a middle-of-the-line package is ~$27, and the everything package is ~$44.
  We're on an island in the middle of nowhere. These sort of things should be way more expensive than in the US, not cheaper. Why is this? And availability, too. Back when I lived in Iowa City (a big 10 university town, I should add, so there were some fat pipes running into the place), the best uplink speed I could get on my netconnection was 1.5Mb/s (down was better, but not impressive). Here I get 50Mb/s bidirectional, and that's considered bad.
  I don't get it, America. What's up with all that? I'm in freaking *Iceland* here.
  
  --
  I am Melllvar, Keeper of the Tapes!
Re:Ugh. Worst summary ever? by SydShamino · 2012-06-13 08:50 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.
Re:Seriously? by dkleinsc · 2012-06-13 08:51 · Score: 5, Insightful

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 /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
Re:Hyperbole much? by CanHasDIY · 2012-06-13 09:00 · Score: 4, Informative

The new "share everything" plans are designed to make it easier (and a bit cheaper) for families with a bunch of smartphones, a tablet or two, and text-messaging addicted teenagers. Not for single-device customers looking for a bargain.
Indeed; that is addressed in a Q&A page linked from TFA:

Q: I'm single and I just want a smartphone, that's it. The cheapest Shared Everything plan looks pretty expensive at $90 per month, and that's with just 1 gigabyte of data. Is there no alternative?
A: There's one cheaper plan, intended for first-time smartphone buyers. It gives you unlimited calling and texting, and just 300 megabytes of data per month. If you're frugal with data usage, that will get you by. It costs $80 per month.

--
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re:Ugh. Worst summary ever? by Baloroth · 2012-06-13 09:04 · Score: 5, Informative

This is completely 100% false. THERE ARE NO OTHER PLANS. From the Q&A linked in TFA

Q: I'm single and I just want a smartphone, that's it. The cheapest Shared Everything plan looks pretty expensive at $90 per month, and that's with just 1 gigabyte of data. Is there no alternative?

A: There's one cheaper plan, intended for first-time smartphone buyers. It gives you unlimited calling and texting, and just 300 megabytes of data per month. If you're frugal with data usage, that will get you by. It costs $80 per month.
In other words, you can do this plan for 1GB of data, or pay $80 for 300MB of data (basically, $40 for 300MB of data, since the phone access costs $40), or you can not buy a smartphone from Verizon. There are literally no other options for new customers.

--
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Re:Seriously? by LordLimecat · 2012-06-13 09:34 · Score: 4, Funny

Over the years I have come to understand that Verizon really truly does not expect or want to keep customers. Their only goal is to infuriate, annoy, inconvenience, and generally cause problems for as many people as is possible.
I believe that they are not a data carrier, as much as a hatred delivery company who uses their status as an ISP to more easily deliver that seething contempt to its customers.
Re:Ugh. Worst summary ever? by bongey · 2012-06-13 09:34 · Score: 5, Informative

Call Verizon yesterday about the ShareEverything Plan.
My current plan has 4 smartphones , 1 basic and 1 tablet.
The bill would go up by $30 dollars if I switched. The amount of data I could used would go down by 9 GB .
Funny hearing the silence from the customer service agent when I asked him . "You mean my bill would go up and I only get 5GB for 5 devices ?"
Re:Ugh. Worst summary ever? by Mister+Transistor · 2012-06-13 09:50 · Score: 4, Funny

BECAUSE...
It's MOST LIKELY....
WILLIAM SHATNER...
That you're TALKING to!

--
-- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
Re:less minutes and less text by LurkerXXX · 2012-06-13 11:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.