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Verizon: 'it's a mistake' to abandon subsidized phone plans
Of the four major operators in the US wireless industry, Verizon seems to be the most hesitant in making a transition to phone installment plans. Last year, the company launched a plan called Edge in which customers agree to pay for the full retail price of their smartphone in monthly payments; however, Verizon has taken its time in making Edge competitive with AT&T's and T-Mobile's offerings. Big Red is quite a bit more cautious than its competitors, choosing instead to promote its traditional subsidized plans, which involves the customer buying a new phone at a discount in exchange for a two-year contract. Verizon executives have been pretty quiet about future plans, but CFO Fran Shammo shed some light today on exactly why his company isn't making such a huge leap.
Sprint launches its 'One Up' plan for early upgraders
Sprint's "One Up" early upgrade program, Big Yellow's offering in the style of Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, has just gone live. While it's currently only available in-store, customers can upgrade to a new smartphone every year, while snagging unlimited talk, texts and data for $65 per month. There's no down-payment to speak of, instead the cost of the latest tech will be spread out as an additional charge each month. Now, of course, we just have to wait for some shiny new phone launch that'll compel people to make the switch. [Thanks, Dirk]
Verizon Max plan goes live to entice unlimited data users to join Edge
August 25th was the day when Verizon customers with an early adopter bent could sign up for Edge, the carrier's plan that lets them get their hands on the latest and greatest device a lot sooner than those with the usual two-year contract. Though not quite as heavily publicized however, Verizon officially launched the Max promo plan concurrently to encourage those with unlimited plans to make the leap to the new program. Indeed, it appears you can't keep your unlimited plan and sign up for Edge at the same time. As confirmed by Droid-Life, when those with a grandfathered unlimited plan attempt to join Edge, they'll be prompted to swap it out for a Verizon Max plan. The Max offer lets you have either a 6GB cap for $30 or an 8GB plus tethering option for $50. Do note that swapping out your unlimited data plan for Max doesn't affect your monthly minute and text allotment; those remain as separate line items. We admit we don't quite see the benefit of giving up your unlimited data for Edge's more frequent handset upgrades -- which come at a higher monthly cost anyway -- but if you feel like you really need that shiny new handset right now, head on over to the source to see if it's worth it. [Image credit: Droid-Life]
