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Verizon Says 5G Network Will Cost Extra $10 a Month (go.com)

Posted by msmash on from the show-me-the-money dept.

Verizon said on Tuesday that it will charge an additional $10 a month per smartphone for subscribers who want to add 5G speeds to their devices, the first major U.S. carrier to disclose pricing for the faster cellular service. From a report: Verizon says it'll flip the switch next month on a much-hyped, next-generation "5G" phone network. Service will start in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis. Verizon expects to have 5G in 30 cities this year. For now, few people will sign on. The offer is available only on unlimited plans, which currently start at $75 for one person or $160 for a family of four without 5G. On family plans, each 5G line would cost $10 extra. And network access will initially work with just one phone, Motorola's Moto Z3, with a special 5G attachment. Verizon will offer some promotions at first, including discounts on the phone and attachment and the first three months of 5G service free.

13 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Extra per month by slaker · · Score: 2

    I'm pretty sure when I looked in to changing my US Provider, they wanted me to pay an extra $10/month for LTE as well. So does this fee replace the $10/month for LTE or are customers expected to pay $10/month for LTE AND $10/month for "5G?"

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    -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
    1. Re:Extra per month by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm pretty sure when I looked in to changing my US Provider, they wanted me to pay an extra $10/month for LTE as well. So does this fee replace the $10/month for LTE or are customers expected to pay $10/month for LTE AND $10/month for "5G?"

      pretty sure it'll be on top of the $10/m for LTE.

    2. Re:Extra per month by Solandri · · Score: 2

      More to the point, can you cancel your 4G service and go with only 5G for no extra fee? I mean if Verizon is going to charge you like it's a la carte pricing, then the customer should be able to select services like it's a la carte, right?

      From what I've been able to tell, 5G offers little benefit to the customer over 4G. At 5G speeds, you can blow through your monthly quota in a couple minutes. The benefit is mostly for the carrier - fewer bandwidth bottlenecks when lots of people are in the same tower cell (each person's data request takes less time to fulfill, getting them off the airwaves quicker and freeing up the bandwidth). Meaning Verizon won't get as many complaints about poor service when it's not due to technical problems.

    3. Re:Extra per month by StikyPad · · Score: 3, Informative

      Adding to that irony is that $10/mo is the price of an entire monthly LTE plan in many countries, including tethering, unlimited voice and text, unmetered messaging apps, etc. (albeit not unlimited data). The price of telecom service in the US and the rampant nickel-and-diming is outrageous from a consumer-centric perspective, although obviously it's outstanding from an investor perspective.

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      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
  2. Mi-Fi unlimited by agressiv · · Score: 2

    Get 5G Mi-Fi unlimited and cable will be in for a wild ride. Competition would be good.

    1. Re:Mi-Fi unlimited by Anubis+IV · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Given that their current "unlimited" plans seem to cap out at 20GB of 4G LTE data before throttling you to 600 Kb/s for the remainder of the billing cycle, I don't think this is the disruption you were hoping for. At best, something like that plan may compete with rural WISPs or satellite, assuming the location even has 4G LTE coverage in the first place.

  3. $10 for what? by pintpusher · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is that for fake 5G or real 5G?

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    man, I feel like mold.
    1. Re:$10 for what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      The only real 5G is going to be when you're standing within 20m of a transmitter, completely alone, with no so much as a particularly anemic butterfly wing interrupting your line of sight, so I'm guessing the fake stuff.

  4. ATT doesn't have to. by myth24601 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Since ATT found a way to upgrade their system to 5G without spending money, they won't have to jack rates up. Hope all you guys who were baggin' on ATT a few weeks ago about it will shut up now!

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    No matter where you go, there you are.
  5. Typical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    5G benefits primarily the carrier, not the subscriber. The chance that you'll see any faster speeds than 4G/LTE is very slim. The carrier however gets to reap benefits from lower traffic congestion meaning that they'll be able to cram more connections on the same hardware. And make the customers pay for it.

  6. Let me fix it for you. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2

    For a mere 10$ more, Verizon will call its current service 5G just for you.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  7. Not excited by maxrate · · Score: 2

    I know "640k ought to be enough for anyone", but I'm happy with 4G (for the time being). Glad to see things are moving ahead with 5G, but for myself, I'm really not excited about it for some reason. No way I would spend a cent on it right now (hardware or network).

  8. and to make 15GB the new cap for home use by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    yes they want to push this as home internet $500 router needed.