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."

Comments

Oh really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like the prepaid phone market's getting another customer when my Verizon contract ends.

What the Hell???

[jtownatpunk.net]

$50 for 1 gigabyte of data?!? That's insane!

Re:What the Hell???

[Baloroth]

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.

Re:What the Hell???

[Man On Pink Corner]

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?

Re:What the Hell???

[C_amiga_fan]

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

Re:What the Hell???

[Jon_S]

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.

Re:Seriously?

[dkleinsc]

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.

Re:Ugh. Worst summary ever?

[Baloroth]

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.

Re:Ugh. Worst summary ever?

[bongey]

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 ?"