FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited data

[Vikman]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

Unlimited plans not dead?

Shammo also addressed his comments from last week about the carrier's forthcoming family data plans, or data share plans, which Verizon will launch this summer. Shammo said he misspoke slightly, noting that customers will have the choice to upgrade to such plans. However, he reiterated his point from last week that if customers on unlimited data plans move to data share plans, they will lose their unlimited pricing.

Verizon's Shammo: LTE enables new kinds of data plans - FierceWireless

 

[grumpyjoe]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

I don't think it's all about the money. If I have to switch to shared data plan, I would be saving $70 a month. I have 5 unlimited plans and it's costing me $150 a month just for data. I would go with the 20Gb a month for $80. Between 5 of us we avg about 11 to 13 Gbs a month. I think it's more about the knuckle heads that use the unlimited data on their phones as a modem for their home PC. Downloading 80+ Gb monthly. I think it's bogging down the system. When I first got my ThunderBolt I had a download speed of 25Mbps +-5. Now I avg around 15 Mbps. Still fast but... Like someone else here said. This phone was not designed to be a modem for your home PC. Some people are taking advantage of Verizons high speed data at the expense of others. You give some an inch and they will always take a mile. It's a shame.

 

[kulkaholic]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

Referencing the subsidising of phones. I think it is crap. Most phones when they come out brand new (higher end) and we upgrade via contrat we have to pony up around 250-300. That comes out to around $12.5 a month that Verizon says is subsidized into the contract. If you keep the phone over two years the price of your service does not drop. So Verizon must be eating this cost or giving us a load of crud.

RE: Plans, I think a tiered data plan for family usage is overall a good thing for most people that have multiple smart phone users. It will probably save most people money. However their plans affects individual users differently. I have all 5 lines used on my plan and I am the only smart phone user. I use between 5-7GB of data a month. probably only about half a gig is used at home if that (only because I am lazy and dont connect to my home network). Most all of it is used when I am on the road. I work two jobs so I stream music and internet surf. If they force me into a data plan for the family that is useless. If they force me into a $30 4GB data plan that is useless.

I do not want a blazing fast phone that I have to "watch my usage". That is like buying a Corvette to drive the speed limit.

If they punish me because they are trying to stop the users that use their phone to tether their home network, I will walk away from Smart phone technology period. I wont switch carriers because they will all do this.

Again I am not mad at the tier plan, for some people they are a great advantage. PUnishing those of use that it will hurt is where I have the issue.

 

[kulkaholic]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

I don't think it's all about the money. If I have to switch to shared data plan, I would be saving $70 a month. I have 5 unlimited plans and it's costing me $150 a month just for data. I would go with the 20Gb a month for $80. Between 5 of us we avg about 11 to 13 Gbs a month. I think it's more about the knuckle heads that use the unlimited data on their phones as a modem for their home PC. Downloading 80+ Gb monthly. I think it's bogging down the system. When I first got my ThunderBolt I had a download speed of 25Mbps +-5. Now I avg around 15 Mbps. Still fast but... Like someone else here said. This phone was not designed to be a modem for your home PC. Some people are taking advantage of Verizons high speed data at the expense of others. You give some an inch and they will always take a mile. It's a shame.

That may also be because there are a lot more 4G users out there period. I ahve an hour drive to and from work. I work in a city and live ina rural country area. The further I get away from the city my speeds shoot up to 25Mbps +-5. It may not be that people are heavy users but that there are just more of them.

 

[trailblazen]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

That may also be because there are a lot more 4G users out there period. I ahve an hour drive to and from work. I work in a city and live ina rural country area. The further I get away from the city my speeds shoot up to 25Mbps +-5. It may not be that people are heavy users but that there are just more of them.

This right here. You have to think that 4G is the new thing and everyone is jumping on the bandwidth bandwagon so in turn creating more strain on the network. I am by no means happy with the way they are going about this but making sense as to why they are taking any form of action at this point. Yes money does play the bigger role in this though for the other part of this equation which doesn't make me happy when I already pay $200/month for 2 smartphones.

 

[andrewshah]

Now I do understand that there needs to be a data cap/shared plan to curb those abusing the network. However, 2gb a month for $30 is just plain robbery.
I sure hope the new plans add a little more value.

I mean, anyone can blast through 2gb watching a single HD movie and a few YouTube videos.


@kulk35 Its more like buying a Ferrari and being told you can only drive it 20 miles a month, or being told you can only use 20 gallons of gas a month!

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[metz65]

I only use about 3 gig a month and always use wifi when at home.
As far as blaming this on people abusing the network I don't buy into that one bit. I don't care how much people use and what they use it for. Verizon set up an unlimited plan and that's what it should be ,unlimited.
It wasn't advertised as unlimited up to a certain amount, or unlimited with restrictions on how you use it. That's kind of like advertising an all you can eat buffet then getting mad at people who eat more than 1 plate of food.

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[andrewshah]

I only use about 3 gig a month and always use wifi when at home.
As far as blaming this on people abusing the network I don't buy into that one bit. I don't care how much people use and what they use it for. Verizon set up an unlimited plan and that's what it should be ,unlimited.
It wasn't advertised as unlimited up to a certain amount, or unlimited with restrictions on how you use it. That's kind of like advertising an all you can eat buffet then getting mad at people who eat more than 1 plate of food.

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I mostly agree with you. But there are some cases where people really do abuse the network. I read on one forum, someone was using over 350gb a month on their unlimited plan, tethering to their laptop. Now someone using that much data is seriously going to degrade performance for everyone else in the area.

But even then, only people seriously abusing the network should be dealt with. I don't agree with the paltry limits on the new plans.

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[kulkaholic]

@kulk35 Its more like buying a Ferrari and being told you can only drive it 20 miles a month, or being told you can only use 20 gallons of gas a month!

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Touche



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[Eclipse2K]

I mostly agree with you. But there are some cases where people really do abuse the network. I read on one forum, someone was using over 350gb a month on their unlimited plan, tethering to their laptop. Now someone using that much data is seriously going to degrade performance for everyone else in the area.

But even then, only people seriously abusing the network should be dealt with. I don't agree with the paltry limits on the new plans.

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Verizon says you're allowed to use the network on your cell phone. I'm sure these people using it for a home internet are not all paying the hotspot fee thus not obeying the terms of service.

Btw, your post is right on. Just adding to it.

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[bed269]

I'm curious how switching phones around on your plan will work. My kids get the phones that my wife and i have after we have upgraded.
If all of our lines except mine move to a tiered data wonder if i can upgrade their line then in a few weeks move the phone over to my line.


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[3rdpig]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

I only use about 3 gig a month and always use wifi when at home.
As far as blaming this on people abusing the network I don't buy into that one bit. I don't care how much people use and what they use it for. Verizon set up an unlimited plan and that's what it should be ,unlimited.
It wasn't advertised as unlimited up to a certain amount, or unlimited with restrictions on how you use it. That's kind of like advertising an all you can eat buffet then getting mad at people who eat more than 1 plate of food.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Just as you think you have the right to use as much data on an unlimited account as you want, Verizon has the right to restructure their contracts any way they want. If they think unlimited data accounts hurt their bottom line, or that abusers are hurting their network or the bulk of their other users, then not renewing those contracts is only smart business.

Unlimited is going away for a reason, and that reason isn't the people who use 2-6 GB a month, with the occasional 10 or 20 GB month. It's the people who consistently use 50+ a month or more. I know one person who brags that he uses as much as possible, tethering to his computer and streaming movies even when he's not there to watch them, then he brags to his buddies how much data he's used.

I'm also convinced that those who are complaining the loudest, and loudly complaining "unlimited means unlimited" are the worst offenders. And to those of you I've got this to say, "Welcome to you new shared data account". Or maybe "Welcome to the crap Sprint 3G network".

 

[Jowlah]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

Here is a nugget of thought; anyone notice that Verizon hasn't released a single big name smartphone since the Galaxy Nexus and the Various Droid Razr models? I think that Verizon is waiting for this Tiered Data plan to be in place before launching another phone. Notice that the Droid Incredible 4G, the phone I am 90% sure I will get to replace my OG Droid Incredible, is finished and ready for action, but has no price yet (officially), or release date (officially). Bet you dollars to donuts that this is what Big Red is holding out for.

 

[metz65]

Just as you think you have the right to use as much data on an unlimited account as you want, Verizon has the right to restructure their contracts any way they want. If they think unlimited data accounts hurt their bottom line, or that abusers are hurting their network or the bulk of their other users, then not renewing those contracts is only smart business.

Unlimited is going away for a reason, and that reason isn't the people who use 2-6 GB a month, with the occasional 10 or 20 GB month. It's the people who consistently use 50+ a month or more. I know one person who brags that he uses as much as possible, tethering to his computer and streaming movies even when he's not there to watch them, then he brags to his buddies how much data he's used.

I'm also convinced that those who are complaining the loudest, and loudly complaining "unlimited means unlimited" are the worst offenders. And to those of you I've got this to say, "Welcome to you new shared data account". Or maybe "Welcome to the crap Sprint 3G network".

I use about 3 a month 4 at most.
You are 100 percent correct Verizon has the right to do away with unlimited data and put whatever plans they want in place. But the plain fact is they called it unlimited so until they change the plans its still unlimited even if some Joe schmo wants to use 500 in a month. Spin it how you want say what you want but unlimited has a definition and like it or not that's what it means.
Personally no more data than the wife and I use shared plans in reality probably won't hurt us at all, for what we will share for 60 bucks which is what we pay now.
The thing you can't change no matter how much you don't agree with it is the fact that until Verizon changes it everyone does have the right to use as much data as they want.

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[kulkaholic]

Re: FierceWireless: Verizon will kill 'grandfathered' unlimited d

I'm also convinced that those who are complaining the loudest, and loudly complaining "unlimited means unlimited" are the worst offenders. And to those of you I've got this to say, "Welcome to you new shared data account". Or maybe "Welcome to the crap Sprint 3G network".

I am complaining loudly and I use 6-8 a month. I don't use my phone at home and I cannot use it ona wifi at my main job.

My complaint is not just a me me me situation. The tiered plans will save a lot of people a lot of money. So I think they are a great idea. However there is no thought for the single user that uses more than 4GB but less than 10GB. They are forcing me to buy more or change my usage. In 3-4 years a tiered plan may be a good call for me if my wife wants a smartphone and my son comes of age where I am ok with him having one. Until than they are making changes based on a few people that use the phones (as Verizon would say) not their intended purpose. This leads me also to say this is their fault. They made the phones capable of so much and when people utilize them so they punish us.

 

[Ry]

It's now clear that they aren't forcing anyone off of unlimited plans.


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[smccloud]

It's now clear that they aren't forcing anyone off of unlimited plans.


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Unless you sign a new phone contact

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[Ry]

Unless you sign a new phone contact

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They're not forcing anyone to sign a new contract.

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[smccloud]

They're not forcing anyone to sign a new contract.

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Yes and no, you don't have to but I don't know many people than can afford a phone at full price

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[Super_Mario]

Yes and no, you don't have to but I don't know many people than can afford a phone at full price

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Then, they will have options. Tiered data, another carrier or no cell phone. It's not the end of the world.