Is Verizon actually doing away with grandfathered unlimited data plans?

[themkaufman]

I'm going to be getting a Lumia 928 in a few days and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to buy the device outright for $550 when Verizon may do away with my unlimited data plan in a few months or so. I would be on an individual plan and use a little under 3 gigs a month.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Moved to Carrier Discussion Lounge, since this is a question about carrier plans, not limited to a specific device.

 

[themkaufman]

Thanks for moving it.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Thanks for moving it.

You're welcome. :smile:

 

[Beast of Haeven]

Where did you hear that they are getting rid of the grandfathered plans in a few months?

 

[themkaufman]

I believe Honestabebread mentioned something about them possibly ending them by 2014 and Cnet has an article in which Verizon executives confirmed it would be happening. Heres the article from Cnet though. Verizon to kill unlimited data plans for existing subscribers | Mobile - CNET News

 

[Blkacesvf41]

That's an article for from May 2012. I bought my 822 outright in November and kept my unlimited. Sure, they offered one of their share everything plans which is good in a way if you want to do internet sharing with a tablet.

 

[themkaufman]

Yea, it's from May 2012 but considering honestabebread has brought us pretty solid information I trust his judgment when he says Verizon is thinking about doing away with grandfathered unlimited plans.

 

[illegaloperation]

You should call your local VZW store.

I would think: why not!

VZW would be happy that you pay out of pocket for the phone so it doesn't have to pay for the subsidy.

Let us assume that the price of the Nokia Lumia 928 is $99 on contract and $450 off contract. Assuming that VZW let you keep your unlimited data plan, you are paying $350 for the privilege of doing so.

 

[themkaufman]

I think I'm going to end up buying it outright even though that means that I am not going to be able to use the device as a hotspot which kinda sucks but the extra estimated $390 bucks id have to spend if I went onto a tier plan doesn't make the tiered plan worth it.

 

[Blkacesvf41]

I think I'm going to end up buying it outright even though that means that I am not going to be able to use the device as a hotspot which kinda sucks but the extra estimated $390 bucks id have to spend if I went onto a tier plan doesn't make the tiered plan worth it.

You CAN get the mobile hotspot from Verizon if you keep your unlimited data plan. It will cost $20/month for 2GB worth. I had it for a while and then we finally got WiFi at work, so I cancelled it. You can add or cancel this feature on the Verizon website. Just sign into your account and manage it.

 

[thed]

The answer is that nobody outside of Verizon knows for sure. There's nothing that prevents them from taking away your unlimited data once you're off contract. They're letting people keep it for now but they can pull the rug out from under you at any time. I think they're just waiting for enough people to switch to the capped plans on their own, so that once they do get rid of it there won't be too many people left to make noise about it.

 

[Wacft]

I think what this article is talking about has already happened. I think it was about how you were able to keep your unlimited plan when upgrading to a subsidized phone. Now the only way to keep it is to buy the phone outright. The vast majority of people will never buy a new phone outright, a lot dont even know its an option. On top of that you will never hear a Verizon Rep bring it up unless prompted by a customer. What they cant do is force you to sign a contract so as long as you have a phone on it, it will be there. They could stop letting you change the phone on that plan however but I havent seen even a whisper about that.

 

[Woody64]

There was a law passed a while back saying that Verizon could not force us to pay for the "hotspot" feature if we connect though our own interface...such as foxfi. I use that program and have used others such as tether and they work just fine without the expense of Verizon's hotspot feature. They all work the same way.. Just do a search in the Google Play store for tethering apps (there are over 1100 results this search will bring back). Foxfi does not require "rooting" your phone which voids your warranty. The program tether also works the same way. Foxfi is used by some of the other programs you'll find listed in the above search, only their "packaging" is different.

 

[CHIP72]

I don't think Verizon is getting rid of unlimited data for grandfathered plans if a user upgrades at full (i.e. non-subsidized) price anytime in the near future. The reason why I say that is because Verizon recently introduced multi-month payment options for people who buy unsubsidized devices from Verizon.

 

[troylytle]

They are getting rid of them. Saw it on Engadget like two months ago. I think it said by next year.

 

[TLReed]

Yes. They aren't taking you off it until you go to upgrade your phone, at that point they take it off unless you pay the full purchase price for a phone. The cool phones are $600 and $700. They will eventually force us all off of it. If you have phone upgrade on a non smart phone you can upgrade that and swap out the upgrade. Too complicated. We have 5 phones and I want to leave over this!

 

[Shadai]

So I'm bringing this thread back up to see people's reaction to the new Edge Plans from Verizon.

There is a lot of hate spewing on the droid forums about it, understandably so, as they seem to think its a way for Verizon to get rid of their data plans.

First, some context.

I have been on Verizon for several years now, and still have my Unlimited Data Plan (29.99 for Unlimited if your definition of "unlimited" is 5 GB).

The last phone I "bought" subsidized from Verizon was my HTC Trophy, the trooper that it was.

Now I'm currently using the Nokia Lumia 822, because it was cheap to buy full price on Ebay and it had expandable memory so I could bring my gobs of GBs of music and pictures with me and not be tethered to the cloud and thus, signal or WiFi. Don't judge me. I would like to use the 928 since that camera kicks a lot of ***, but alas, I don't have that much money laying around to buy the phone outright. I could of course buy the phone under subsidy, but to do so would allow them to force my phone from the current unlimited data plan to one of their "shared" data plans, of which I'm sharing nothing but more of my money into their pockets.

Additionally, I refuse to give Verizon (or anyone for that matter) more money for less service, which is exactly what would happen by moving to the Shared Data plans.

However Verizon introduced the Edge service yesterday, and didn't announce an interesting little tidbit and I'm beginning to think the end is nigh for use "unlimited" users. And not really for the worse.

Apparently, if you sign up for Edge service as a grandfathered unlimited user, you are prompted to switch plans. You are forced to drop the $29.99 unlimited service and instead get to choose from a $30 6 GB version or a $50 8 GB version that lets you tether. On the face, this seems like a better deal then the venom being spewed at it lately. One penny for 1 more GB of data you already don't use, or $20.01 more to get tethering and 3 more GBs. Currently, I have 5 GB for $30. If I want to tether, it costs me $20 (or is it $30) more to add that feature and I don't think I get the full 5 GBs to tether. For comparison, consider that the Shared crap plans START at $50 for a lowly 1 GB of data, which I can tell you only takes about half a month for me to violate.

The rub is you add the price of the phone split up into payments. For example, if I want a shiny new Nokia Lumia 928 (I do) it will cost me an extra $19 per month for 2 years. The idea behind Edge is if I want to upgrade after 6 months I can, as long as I pay a chunk of at least 50% of that new phone off. I turn the phone in, and walk out with a new phone. But what if I don't want a new phone?

It got me to thinking. Currently I have my unlimited plan without tethering. Because frankly, I find the idea of paying twice for the same data repulsive. However I don't have an Android Phone, so I don't have access to any cool apps that let me tether or hotspot my phone for free like my wife has with her Android. For those of you who don't understand what I mean, when I go into Settings > Internet Sharing on my phone and try to turn it on, I get a message saying that feature is disabled, and if I could so nicely contact a Verizon rep he would be happy to rape me over the coals for more cash to enable it. Rape? Sorry I mean Rake. Silly me.

However, I could be talked into getting 3 more gigs, and tethering, for a mere $20.01. That seems like a fair proposition to me. My understanding is switching to said plan doesn't mess with your minutes, so the lowest of the low voice plan I'm on right now would stay there, and I would just get an increase to data both in $ and in GB. And of course have to pay an extra $19 a month for 2 years or I pay it off completely. I'm assuming after it is "paid off" that the extra $19 charge drops off the contract entirely, leaving my end result contract $20 heavier but gaining 3GB of data in the process. And hotspot tethering.

So my question to you, good people. What do you all think of these plans? Is this our last best offer before Verizon ultimately flips the switch on our data plans? Or is this a scare tactic? Is this a decent deal as I'm looking at it, or is it something more?

 

[Shadai]

No one cares?

Perhaps I'm in the wrong forum. This might get more thoughts in the General section of the forum before kicked back here anyway.

/frustration

 

[raccoon210]

Shadai that sounds like a pretty good deal. If there's no other fine print that sounds like a really good deal. And yeah I do think Verizon will pull the grandfathered plans at some point. I would take the edge deal if I were you. Just my .02