Verizon killing pay-as-you-go data plans, making other changes
By Darren Murph 
posted November 3rd 2008 8:21AM
posted November 3rd 2008 8:21AM
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posted November 3rd 2008 8:21AM
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it's a matter of choice -- there are some consumers who don't want/need a data plan, they just want a pda and phone in one with a decent keyboard -- you can do this with virtually any pda type phone on GSM networks if you choose to
further, people like paying a reasonable amount for what they use and have flexibility --> e.g. texting plans cost far in excess of their cost to the provider --> this can occur due to the market existing in a situation called an oligopoly which is coming close to mimicking a monopoly given the significant barriers to entry and the difficulty for individuals to switch between plans --> that is, one expects tech costs to go down yet a la carte text messaging fees have increased 10x of the past several years when internal costs have no doubt fell
I hope ESN/MEID cloning becomes widespread to combat these corrupt Verizon practices as the intent of that law -- to steal service from someone else -- is no longer an issue and it can be used to bypass Verizon's different plan pricing for different model phones (i.e. this law allows them to engage in more surgical price discrimination than any GSM provider with limited exception)
I drank the Kool-aid that Jobs kept offering and moved from Verizon to AT&T for the iPhone.
I LOVE the phone. However, an unreliable voice & data network had to come with it.
I miss CDMA & EVDO. I'd gladly pay whatever to have this phone, & Verizon's network. And yes, I'll be checking out the Storm when it launches.
Anyone who has a Verizon PDA should only be on the unlimited data plan. You will quickly burn through your usage on the metered plan and the charges are absurd. $30/ month for Verizon's data network is pretty good given the quality and coverage of the network. I'm sure there are 2 or 3 people out there that can manage on a metered plan, but most will find it useless.
Well since they're going to be the same as the rest I see no reason to feel loyal to them any longer. I have a Palm (Verizon) that I have no Data plan on and wanted to upgrade soon, but I'm not about to rush out in the next 2 weeks for it. When I'm ready I'll go to AT&T and get my iPhone since I'll have to pay on a Data plan. I guess all I needed was an excuse.
Verizon is reacting to the metric-de-jour - data revenue. Just as land line has had to take it's lumps on hard lines because everyone is moving their voice to mobile. Land line is now pushing their broadband as a revenue driver (FIOS, DSL, which ever carrier you look at).
So too in the wireless world has this shift become necessary. Because people are EXPECTING voice to cost next to nothing with the in-calling and all that crap. And people are demanding more data out of their phones. mobile web, text, email, blah blah. And you can only raise plan rates so high for the voice portion. Then comes the iPhone, then the iPhone 3G, to which AT&T themselves require you get a data plan. They show this big boost in data revenue because of the iPhone adds.
So what conclusion to draw: if the device is good enough and the data is reliable enough, people will still pay for data (and even AT&T's 3g on the iPhone was meh, so maybe the data doesn't need to be that hot). So, Verizon figures they have phones coming down that pike that can draw in consumers (Storm, Omnia, One of the HTC Touch Pro/Diamond/somethings). Tie those devices to data revenue and ding ding ding...
And it was posted here earlier, and I couldn't agree more. If you don't like a company, don't bitch about it, just don't buy from them. But this trend won't go away. If you really believe there is an altruistic company that plans on just offering a service without profit, your nuts. AT&T was slipping before...their plan was to bring out the phone of phones (iPhone). But subsidizing it has hit their dollars..and that thing has a shelf life with LTE coming...and even if they keep claiming great customer growth, they need to put money in the coffers. Sooner or later, AT&T will come looking for your wallets through a 'fee' or 'service' or something. It's just how it works.
Hey, one of you Verizon employees, help me out here.
What is "1X Block"? I'm assuming that means the ability to block 1X services to the phone, right? Does that mean that if I buy one of these phones, I'll HAVE to have a data plan, and I won't have the option to turn it off?
Wow, talk about locking you into your plan...
Wow, $30 a month for data on a phone ? That doesn't even include voice ?
You guys get screwed in the US (or I am missing something). I've got a pay-as-you-go phone with 1.8MBit data (Unlimited/Fair-Use) and it costs €9,50 a month. (I dont use voice on that phone only data and I really get 200kbyte/sec on my laptop) Since its pay-as-you-go I can end it any time I want.
On the other hand fuel prices suck here in the Netherlands :)
LMFAO! SIM'less old azz CDMA, limited global compatibility, crippled bluetooth, ganked WIFI and now this! What happened to all of this "openness" love they were spewing a few months ago? Yea well, "Virginia is for Lovers" and "Verizon is for Suckers!"
Hmm...perhaps the XV6850 will be released just after November 14th??? Hmmmmm????
What's ridiculous is the overage charge for "unlimited" wireless broadband. Once you go over 5GB, it's 25 cents per MB. So 5GB costs $60, 10GB costs $1310, 15GB costs $2560, etc...
It's almost as if they were off by an order of magnitude when coming up with the overage price. If it were 2.5 cents per MB, that would be much more within the expected range (though still somewhat expensive): 5GB=$60, 10GB=$185, 15GB=$310.
I don't intend to go to Verizon until they drop this overage charge by an order of magnitude, or they implement some way to have the access stop altogether, or they get rid of the overage and just throttle down the bandwidth once you pass 5GB like all of the other wireless broadband carriers.
engadget,
I haven't taken the plunge yet, and you're freak'n me out here, but isn't there an app of sorts that'll help out here? Also, is it all that easy to go beyond the 5gb?
Well I can tell you one feature of the iPhone is that you don't have to pay 2.99 for a 10 second low quality clip of your favorite song.
If this is really true, then I'd rather switch to at&t and get an iPhone.