Verizon Wireless' new - and more rational - pricing plans
In an industry whose price structures often seem senseless, Verizon Wireless appears to be striking a blow for transparency.
Verizon Wireless' new - and more rational - pricing plans
Jeff Gelles, Inquirer Business Columnist
I'll eventually have more to say about Verizon Wireless' new "Share Everything" pricing plans, which represent a major overhaul of the pricing hodgepodge that emerged during the wireless industry's adolescence and that often didn't seem to make sense. One key question is whether other carriers will follow suit.
But at a glance it seems clear that Verizon is pursuing two strategies that too often seem absent in wireless pricing: transparency and rationality.
For instance, Verizon and its competitors have been simultaneously offering unlimited-data plans or per-gigabyte metered pricing while also charging 10 or 20 cents for text messages that amount to minuscule data transmissions. Lately, three of the four national carriers have dropped unlimited-data plans for new customers and have used data-speed throttling to encourage existing customers to give up their unlimited plans in favor of new, metered plans.
Verizon is now laying more of its cards on the table. It's telling customers they have to pay for data while offering them some new, more attractive options, such as the ability to use a smartphone as a hotspot for a tablet without paying some irrational premium for the data they transmit or receive.
Here's how Verizon describes the changes:
Verizon's Share Everything Plan changes the way you will see your wireless plan choices. You'll no longer have to wade through lots of plans options with varying minutes, messages and data add on options. You just make one decision - how much data will you need - the rest is all included and unlimited. To help make your decision easier, it may be useful to know that Verizon Wireless data devices average between 1 and 2 GB of data per month. The data options on Share Everything Plans come in easy 2GB increments for an additional $10. To figure out which plan may work for you visit www.verizonwireless.com/shareeverythingcalculator ...
Share Everything Plans include Unlimited Minutes, Unlimited Messages, and a single pool of data to share with 1 to 10 lines on your account. Plus, Share Everything includes Mobile Hotspot so, if you have a Mobile Hotspot capable device, you can connect and share your data with multiple WiFi-enabled devices.
There's a good argument to be had over how much Verizon plans to charge for data under its new structure - perhaps other carriers will offer more attractive deals. For now, Sprint is making a name as the only carrier that still offers unlimited data on an iPhone.
But any step away from confusion and toward rationality seems like a step in the right direction.
This is why I stick with tracfone, and not bother with having all the bells and whistles on my mobile phone.— gb- Do you really need a smartphone? Do you need to pay a data plan to activate Facebook or Twitter on a phone? These are not phones they are handheld computers with an option to talk on it. These things that people are doing today on their phones is not needed. All you really need to do is talk or maybe text. Thats what you home pc is for.............stick with a basic phone and landline and you are ahead of the game.— lmrg21
- Lowell McAdams CEO of Verizon isn't satisfied with making only 20 million a year! He needs a raise too!— lmrg21
- It is very simple. All the wireless companies have to do is pay for your use. I don't understand why all the hassle with pricing structure (we all know why actually, but for the sake of argument). You don't see people pay monthly plan for the gas they use right? You pay for the amount you put into your car. This can be done on the SIM card, just like prepaid phones. When you are about to run out, just get more minutes via internet, phone call, etc..
— penncrow19 - StraightTalk at Walmart is $45 per month for unlimited data and calls - i.e. half the big carriers.— hodg99
- I have a $39.99 monthly minutes plan, plus $20 for unlimited texting, plus $29.99 for unlimited data for my Droid Razr Maxx. My month just ended at midnight, and I used 5.3 gb of data (a fairly heavy month for me; I don't tether). I used their calculator, and it estimated I would pay about $30-$40 more per month, BEFORE taxes, fees, surcharges, etc... no thanks. I'll stick to my current pricing structure.— Jesus_the_Gardener
- Try harder— eburd983
I try ...— EGGHEAD.- I think we're all forgetting something here... Verizon is in business to MAKE MONEY, not provide us all with cheap communication. Nothing's free! Just use your head and pick a plan that works for your situation. Put the crowbar on the pocketbook... either that of think smoke signals, pocket change or snail mail.— baworks
- Quote: "I'd rather slap skin..."
That's priceless. Funny stuff in these comments...— aviator - This wireless plans are a big rip-off...If you have a computer that's all you need for emails, internet etc...just get a basic phone with none of the rip off charges.— phil500
- you are an EGGHEAD !!!!!!!!— hflu123
- I'd rather slap skin in the shower with Jerry Sandusky than pay these greedy slugs another thin dime!— EGGHEAD.
- I see this as a non-issue. I mean, these scalawag corporations are changing-up their plans more often than a chicken pecks corn.— EGGHEAD.
- So verizon is going from $29.99/month for unlimited data to $50/month for 1 gig of data. Seems rational to me.
- Right now my wife and I have a plan that is about 170 a month. That is with her having a smart phone and me having a basic. I have a basic because I didn't want to pay the $30 a month and increase our bill to 200 a month. Also, we have 700 minutes shared and have to use the house phone as much as we can during the day. Now if I get a smartphone (as I have been saving an upgrade for the Droid Razr Maxx to drop its price) we can get 2 smart phones and a shared 4 GB plan (2 x 40 + 70) for 150 with unlimited talk and text. I like that, now if they dont nickel and dime you to death with fees, which might increase the price 10-20 dollars, this sounds like a great deal.— sage2153
- I pay $10 for 2 of the 5 phones on our plan.. Our 2 smartphone users each pay $40, 10 for the line and 30 for data. One gets unlimited data and one has the 4gb Verizon is offering this week. Now we will be essentially paying the same amount for those 2 smartphones, and receiving WAY less data. Our bill is about 200 for 700 minutes (never use that much) for 5 phones, 2 of which are smartphones. I figure it will cost us at least 230 for the same 5 lines and we will be getting a whole 2GB of data.....something is wrong there. It might be better to drop the non data users who just want to send texts and make emergency calls over to another provider. It's really not a good plan when one user is a senior citizen using it for emergencies and one is a middle school student who sends some texts (not tons) and talks a little..That's why the add-a-line for 9.99 was a good deal. That is out the window now.
What really stinks is that they are doing this before the iphone 5. Gee, was that part of the plan? Also interesting to note that Apple just had their announcements yesterday. Everybody thought they'd announce new iphone, Interesting timing by Verizon. So, if one person on our plan wants the new iphone we all have to get the new plan? I guess he'll be getting the 4s after all before June 28. I wonder if smartphone thefts will go up???
— cinders
Reach Jeff at jgelles@phillynews.com.
