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As 4G Seeps In, Verizon Offers Cheap(er) No-Contract 3G Plans
jfruh writes "U.S. Mobile companies are working hard to get customers on fancy high-speed LTE plans with expensive smartphones. But Verizon is shrewdly working to eke out profit from its older infrastructure as well. The company is offering no-contract pay-as-you-go 3G-only plans, which might appeal to those who don't use a lot of wireless data and who might want to take advantage of the glut of older Android and iOS phones available on the market." It's good to see prices dropping from one of the biggest names in the industry, but it seems there are some cheaper options already around, especially for unlocked phones or for people who don't need data.
You'll either have to keep the phone you have or buy your phones outright. As soon as you get a new subsidized phone you'll be moved to their new plan model which includes unlimited minutes and text with a bucket of data
I had service with Verizon for quite a while. In the last two areas I've lived, they have the best coverage. About a year ago I switched to one of the prepaid services, and although the coverage wasn't as good, the far lower monthly cost made up for it in my reckoning.
A few months ago, I made the switch to one of the GSM prepaid providers, and I'm totally blown away by how convenient it is to have my plan tied to a SIM card rather than a phone. Broken phone? No problem, stick the SIM in an old iPhone 3GS borrowed from a co-worker. The same deal when I upgraded to a Nexus 4, just pop in the SIM card and go.
I can certainly see why this caught on in the rest of the world, and I can see why American cell providers like Verizon and Sprint are against it - I'm sure they make a good bit of money from selling you phones. In my case, I'll never go back to the "old way," regardless of how cheap Verizon might get.
60 dollars for 500mb of 3g data. I suppose that's cheap for verizon, the king of overcharging you, but considering MetroPCS and TMobile give you unlimited 3g for significantly less (along with potentially not-unlimited 4g), that's still pretty hilarious. Why would anyone pay more for less? It's not like verizon has better customer service (hah!) or even significantly better coverage.
(That said, I'm actually using a much smaller provider called Ting. It's not unlimited anything, but I'm on target to spend a whopping 15 bucks a month on phone service, including data (because I don't use very much data, or very much anything else.))
Or, I can sign up with StraightTalk, for $45 a month vs $70 for the same or worse from Verizon. (And taxes/fees on ST are tiny. You know how you almost always pay $5-9 in "extra" fees - well not on ST. The regulatory and recovery fees are less than $1. So that $45 becomes something like $45.92 - not nearly $50.)
I don't know about their StraightTalks's plans on Verizon's networks, but on AT&T, I'm getting LTE - so I expect it's 4G on Verizon's network too.
Ahem. If this is "helping" me, please stop. I really don't need your "help" Verizon.
Somehow I'm not rushing out to pay at last $30 more to get 3G instead of 4G.
Can you say slashvertizement?
I get 2.5 gig data and messaging and 300min phone for $25 bucks. Of course that deal is not available now, it's gone up to $35. Oh yeah the phone cost $100.
I made the switch to one of the GSM prepaid providers, and I'm totally blown away by how convenient it is to have my plan tied to a SIM card rather than a phone. Broken phone? No problem, stick the SIM in an old iPhone 3GS borrowed from a co-worker.
Until the carrier sees the smartphone's IMEI and starts cramming a data plan onto your monthly bill, as we discussed yesterday.
If you like the Verizon network, but don't want to pay Verizon prices, they've "rented" their network out to Page Plus for years now. All I use is voice service, and if purchased in $80 chunks, minutes are 4 cents, and the monthly fee to have a number is fifty cents. All you have to do is supply the phone; any 2G or 3G non-pre-paid Verizon phone will work. For the plans mentioned in the article, Page Plus has had essentially the same available for some time for far less money.
I'm on unlimited data still, but my wife is not, and we can't add a new phone to the plan without converting the ENTIRE family plan to the stupidly low total transfer cap. My only recourse, when my daughter gets old enough to get a phone (which is probably this year) is to start up a new contract for my wife and family, and keep my phone on my own plan... or, change to another provider with worse coverage. (I use data a lot for my business, and given the currently usury data prices Verizon charges, I can't be without unlimited data, but my wife uses very little.)
I figure if I don't convert, the more the Verizon bean counters will see that I'm not falling for the new scheme. I'm hoping that a large number of folks will do the same and eventually prompt Verizon to offer an unlimited data plan again, or at least charge a lot less than what they think is reasonable now. If coverage weren't an issue where I live, I'd switch providers and tell Verizon why.