Report: Verizon Killing Unlimited Data Next Week
All good things must come to an end.
AT&T ticked off a lot of people when it announced that it was ditching the unlimited plan so many customers had subscribed to. Sadly, the nation's biggest wireless carrier, Verizon Wireless, hinted that it might follow suit in the not too distant future. The most recent reports suggest that Verizon could move ahead with these plans this month.
Last month, John Killian, Chief Financial Officer at Verizon, told Bloomberg that his company would 'probably need to change the design of their pricing' and get rid of unlimited data.
"We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate," he said.
These remarks followed comments made by CTO Anthony Melone, who said the company would be dropping the all-you-can-eat data option once Verizon launched its 4G LTE network.
"As much data as you can consume is the big issue that has to change," the CTO told the Wall Street Journal in March.
However, Melone also implied that Verizon doesn't want customers to worry about how much data they're using. Melone said the company needed to offer a transparent way for customers to track how much data they're using.
"It's one thing to say all you can eat is gone," he told the Journal. "It's another to have consumers worrying, 'Can I stream this radio?' That's what we don't want."
Engadget this week carries an exclusive report in which it claims to have heard Verizon will announce tiered data plans on July 29.
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Thats fine Sprint is cheaper anyway.
A-holes !!! They just want more money, simple as that.
If we shouldn't worry about how much we use why should verizon?
Way to take a step backwards. "Welcome to 4G. You'll get your data faster, but not nearly as much of it." There's no point in upgrading to 4G when people can't even use it like they want to/should be able to.
Way to keep it classy, Verizon!
I have unlimited everything plan except voice with Sprint and loving it.
However, it's typical for competitors to follow suit to keep up with the market trends. Hopefully Sprint won't drop unlimited data plans but if they do it's because that is what other carriers are doing.
Whats the point of 4g then? It is supposed to faster thus allowing more data transfer such as streaming or even downloads. Now depending on the packages we may not be able to do that or be very limited. I mean its not like we aren't pay enough already for our phones. I pay more for my cellphone contract then I for my internet.
why would they want to follow in at&t's footsteps like this? them keeping unlimited data is just one more thing that makes them better than them. ridiculously evil cellular companies I tell ya..
Its interesting that all the companies say that this won't affect their customers. They say only 1-2 % of the people will pay more and they rest will pay less. How is that possible? If that's the case, these companies would be losing lots of revenue. Then again, I don't have data or text message on my phone, what's that... I can send email for 10 dollars per phone? No thanks, I will call.
Goodbye to AT&T and Verizon, hello Sprint.
ok my big issue here is this... If from what I have seen from other users and poster on other sites, it's near impossible to hit 5GB's in a month on your phone (unless you are plugged in all day and doing nothing but streaming video and then you can come closer to 10GB's). So I must assume with these numbers that what is over clogging the system isn't the amount a data users uses but the amount of users using data(ok a little confusing). So then taking away unlimited data plan isn't really hurting 99% of the users, which begs the bigger question of why then do they want to take away that plan and introduce a tiered plan? If what I am seeing in the numbers, nothing is going to help unclog the network except for them to stop over selling the bandwidth!!!!! With over $10B in profits per year you would think this wouldn't be a problem for them to keep pace with.
All the prepaid companies need is an Android phone, and they will rule the unlimited market.
I like T-Mobile. Sure they don't have the best phones, or the best coverage... But T-Mobile's an alright guy.
But are they going to force the top plan on smartphone buyers like they currently are? Even if those users do not need that much data?
All of the 3G smartphones contracted with Verizon HAVE to get the Unlimited plan at the momemt....and I don't see them letting us pay less for virtually the same service (as even 5GB is more than enough)
Don't like .... don't get it.
People, resources are ALWAYS limited. You want unlimited....you pay for it. Stop expecting others to subsidize your behavior.
Poor consumers. It seems there will be no relief this time, especially since now they want to carry iPhones, they need to stoop down to AT&T's level and deliver a crappy deal for the rest of "the network" Thanks Verizon. But since the iPhone4 cant make calls, you wont use your minutes up, so charging for data ala carte would be the best way to make $.
Those threatening to leave Verizon: Sprint and T-Mobile will have no choice but to do the same. When AT&T announced the plans it was only a matter of time before the competition followed suit.
You kids are funny. First you guys go ripping on AT&T and how bad they are and say "Oh, Verizon is SO much better then AT&T" Now you guys are saying "Oh, Verizon is so bad, Sprint is SO much better then Verizon OR AT&T" Whats next? "Having NO phone is better then Verizon, AT&T and the failure of a network Sprint."
Sprint will most likely follow suit. Part of it is because they can get way more money for less data traffic, another part is because the networks are too full of traffic so they must limit the amount. I just don't care about smart phones so, ima stay with my "phone".
I love it when big companies step up and do the parenting for the parents that aren't cutting the mustard. Mostly the kids are the ones utilizing things such as texting and internet searching on their phones. They probably should be studying or at least finding other activities that are better for their health.
See, there's more than one way to look at this issue.
Verizon is better onekill.. For the most part. And why is it funny, verizon was one of the best but with this move their getting dropped a couple steps for most people know. This isn't like switching to the winning team in a sport cause your old team is losing, this is switching to what ends up actually working for you better.
I don't think it will last though as it's only gonna take one company to capatilize on unlimited data plan.
Verizon will put out tier price for cell phone data service. What is next...apply the same on the broadband data service for home. So all our DSL and FIOS line will be priced on number of GB we can have per month. Goodbye to unlimited data price in general.
im glad i survived without data
and ill just keep enjoying wifi wherever its at... otherwise i dont mind, i guess they wont be losing me as i never had data 
and I dont by the greatest or latest phone either, its much easier to get a used phone that is in new condition for a fraction what they want even for upgrades... its quite pathetic IMO
this really doesnt make sense for the consumer, when free apps are spaming ads and and phones are getting higher and higher res and ppl want to use them as a computer, but now will have to think twice... should i really watch that funny youtube video in HD etc... well at least apple users wont be saying that
but what i think is the best part is. That the rest of the smart people will addpet, some ppl will save money and probably move to the lower costing tiers... they will simply turn off background data access... they will use mini opera and browse with low quality pics, consuming a fraction of the bandwidth.. and will probably get hacked static maps so they dont have to have connection... if anyone should worry its the middle man or those who bank on ads from free apps and such.. there is not much they can do when u kill data
BUT i see many fall flat on there face, as they have to pay in fees going over there data etc... prob like others said a lot of parents will kill data and only keep text/pics
phone carriers and banks... they have a lot in common so it seems these days...
I loled at all the people saying droidX is the best. Have fun with that pos guys. Gunna be enjoying my 4g evo with unlimited data. And to the fool saying 5gb limit wont be hit by most users. I hit 5gb cap on my at&t aircard in like 4 days of use. Then i got smart and switched to sprint.
Have fun paying those overage fees lolololololol.
This is very bad news for anyone looking forward to using Android 2.2's USB tethering feature. Browsing the normal web through a 3G network will consume many more megabytes (and even gigabytes) than the puny mobile web pages and apps. The Motorola Droid is slated to receive Froyo at the end of July. Coincidence?
This decision is really silly, but I suppose it was going to come eventually...
This is very bad news for anyone looking forward to using Android 2.2's USB tethering feature. Browsing the normal web through a 3G network will consume many more megabytes (and even gigabytes) than the puny mobile web pages and apps. The Motorola Droid is slated to receive Froyo at the end of July. Coincidence?
My issue with Verizon & ATT (& eventually Sprint and all the others):
These cellular companies have stated what their expected usage is for a typical customer based on historical data. However, more and more phones coming out are getting new features. I have heard they are working on Netflix Watch Instantly for the phone, as well as premium Hulu services, and other data-intensive video streaming services. (Especially when you consider an out-to-tv connection, steaming Netflix on your phone to your TV doesn't sound so insane when on the road.)
So, now that we are changing from occasional mobile web browsing to full web browsing and video streaming, the typical users usage will skyrocket - right out of their historical usage levels and into serious overages. This is also why they market the web based powers of their phones.
From experience this is what I have learned: streaming 1-2 movies of Netflix for a 5 day vacation (about 3 hours average a day) consumed almost 4 GB of my "unlimited" 5 GB mobile broadband plan.
Their historical trend are out-dated and will lead to very dissatisfied customers. Why advertise the speeds of cable and DSL broadband with 4G service only to say we are going to cap you at a fraction of what a cable company would dare try? The obvious answer is because they know customers will go over and get those famous texting-without-a-plan styled bills (in the $1000s to $10000s of dollars for one month).
If only Sprint would come out and say they weren't going to do this. But they will. They went from unlimited to 5 GB caps, and they eventually moved to canceling you for 2 out of 3 months exceeding usage to the charge per kb over... so they will go to capping their on-phone data.
Oh well, guess I am going back to the most simple phone again with a cheap plan. In other words, they are loosing out on $60 for my tethered smartphone - and the $60 I convinced my wife to spend on getting the same thing. At least that will halve our phone bill.
I guess the only solution is to use the phone only as a phone. They wouldn't be increasing the $/kb usage if it wasn't making them more money; their goal isn't to make less money.
The consumers' only recourse is to not support them. If no one purchases their data plan, I'm sure the price will reduce. Remember, you only pay for what you want!
I was thinking of getting a Droid 2 after I return from my deployment in the middle east. But based on this news I think I'll just go for a no frills regular phone and skip the smartphone debacle completly.