Verizon Eliminates Contracts and Device Subsidies
by Brandon Chester on August 7, 2015 2:58 PM EST
North America has always had a fairly unique pricing structure for buying mobile devices. In many places, the concept of purchasing a device for a heavy subsidy and committing to stay with a given carrier for two or three years is unheard of, but in the United States and Canada it has always been the norm. However, that dynamic has been changing as it has become more difficult for operators to subsidize expensive smartphones for the wide market of consumers. Both T-Mobile and AT&T have moved away from the original model of contracts and subsidies in favor of installment plans or simply selling devices at full price, and today Verizon announced that they will follow in their footsteps.
With Verizon's new plans, there are no more contracts and no more device subsidies. Instead, consumers pay for their phones, pay for a bucket of data, and then pay a fee for each device that they add onto the account. The base monthly data fees are 1GB for $30, 3GB for $45, 6GB for $60, and 12GB for $80. On top of the data bucket fee, users will pay $20 to add a smartphone to the account, $10 for a tablet/data stick, and $5 for a smartwatch with cellular capabilities. Additional data over the limit will cost $15 per gigabyte,
As for existing consumers, Verizon will apparently offer avenues for them to get another subsidized device when they transition to these new plans, and they can also hold onto their older plans if they desire. Verizon customers interested in the new plans can switch over when they go live on August 13.
Source: Re/code
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Impulses - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
And I thought AT&T's $10 was high, it's like VZW is physically incapable of charging less than another carrier for *anything*. :pJakall78 - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
Yes, these prices seem a bit... overpriced.Let`s see, I pay 5,5 USD/month for unlimited data/unlimited text on a 3G network. Not really need 4G just yet, because the speed is good enough.
If I buy a phone from my carrier, I pay around 25% upfront, and then split the difference in 12 installments. Price for the phone is market price.
Something is seriously fishy with your prices...
freeskier93 - Friday, August 7, 2015 - link
I was about to say $30 for 1GB of data isn't horrible, but then there's the $20 per phone fee... I think I'll be switching to something like Cricket which is $35 for 2.5GB of data and when you go over they just throttle.siyangqiu - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
I can't believe how cheap cricket is. I have 5 people on my plan, so it's 20$ per month per line with the group discount. Verizon charges that just to have your phone connected... It's unreal!coburn_c - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
Why the hell do you have to pay a fee based on the device? You're paying for the data, the data overages, and the device. Verizon is a massive scam.we - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
I am suprised at the fees / GB in the US (verizon) mentioned in the article compared to fees in Austria. Nobody would pay more than 1€ /GB (or 5€ /GB over limit) in Austria, whether 3G or 4G. Even considering the geographical smallness of Austria, I think we get much better deals.
5 examples from about 50 variations available from Hutschison Drei Austria:
Pure data, no contract, no subsidy:
"Hui SIM unlimitiert": 15€ monthly + 20€ yearly ("service")
includes: 20 GB data in Austria (≤10Mbit Downl, ≤4Mbit Upl)
(additional data over limit: 4€ / GB in Austria)
Pure data, 2 year contract, no subsidy:
"Hui Flat 150": 45€ monthly + 20€ yearly
includes: ∞ GB data in Austria (≤150Mbit Downl, ≤50Mbit Upl)
Pure data, 2 year contract, 500€ subsidy on tablet or laptop:
"Hui Flat 30 Plus": 40€ monthly + 20€ yearly
includes: ∞ GB data in Austria (≤30Mbit Downl, ≤5Mbit Upl)
free Mobile TV Streaming in Austria / 80 Channels.
Speech + SMS + data, no contract, no subsidy:
"HalloSIM Premium": 40€ monthly + 20€ yearly
includes: ∞ speech in Austria
∞ SMS
600 m speech in Europe
6GB data in Austria (≤150Mbit Downl, ≤50Mbit Upl); 250MB in Europe
(additional data over limit: 14€ / 10GB in Austria)
free Mobile TV Streaming in Austria / 6 Channels.
Speech + SMS + data, 2 year contract, smartphone subsidy:
Samsung S6 64GB: 129€
"Hallo Premium": 65€ monthly + 20€ yearly
includes: ∞ speech in Austria
∞ SMS
600 m speech in Europe
40GB data in Austria (≤150Mbit Downl, ≤50Mbit Upl); 250MB in Europe
(additional data over limit: 14€ / 10GB in Austria)
free Mobile TV Streaming in Austria / 50 Channels
DanD85 - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
Woah! Those prices for data are robbery! I wonder how the American can put up with this ridiculously high prices! Elsewhere in the world, they don't even have data caps!piiman - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
Wow they really up the price on data 1GB for $30 is 3 times what I pay now which is 3 g for 29.99F that!
mckirkus - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
Maybe this explains Apple's stock price decline. The ability to hide the $800 price in subsidies is dying on the vine.Aikouka - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
I don't see how this is that great of a deal. Since I did Verizon's Edge, I get 6GB + 1GB for $60, a smartphone added for $15 and a tablet for $10. If we ignore my bonus 1GB of data, I get the same amount of data for the same price, and I pay less to have my phone on the network ($5 less).Also, I think it's ridiculous that you even have to pay $10 a month for a device that can't make calls (e.g. a tablet). I would think that it's slightly less ridiculous if you actually received a larger allotment of data, but I wouldn't expect that to happen.