Renewals, Upgrades - Not Forced to New SHARE EVERYTHING Plan

[Ry]

Seems to be a lot of confusion about upgrading and whether or not existing customers will be forced to switch to the new Share Everything plan.

Short answer: No.

Grandfather unlimited data is the only thing customers will be forced off of and this new policy takes effect on June 28th, 2012.

For example, if you current plan is the a Nationwide Single-Line Plan -

450 minutes: $40
1000 text messages: $10
Unlimited data: $30

- when you upgrade (on or after June 28th, 2012), you can keep your existing Nationwide 450 plan, BUT you will have to choose a new data plan.

2GB data: $30
5GB data: $50
10GB data: $80

That's it. You do NOT have to choose the new Share Everything plan.

 

[anthony2558]

That's great and all. But my bill will now be $100 instead 80$ and that's bull..... I use about 2.5 to 3.0gb a month. Do we, who don't get on the share everything plan.. do we get free shared hotspots feature?, probably not. Forced to pay full retail for a phone, or pay 20$ more a month for gigs I'll never completely use. If i was to have someone else, second line on my plan then it may be beneficial, but for a single line plan it sucks. Hopefully they will offer the "double your data" deal again in the future.

via Razr MAXX

 

[Jude526]

I am not giving up my unlimited. No way no how. If I have to buy a phone I will use eBay. Not giving up my plan

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[Droid3r]

Nope this unlimited data is staying with me and will be passed on to my future generations. The new family jewel

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[zog1977]

I will just probably leave.

This sucks

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[Robisan]

2GB data: $30
5GB data: $50
10GB data: $80

I just don't see how they can rationally offer these individual data plans while starting the share plans at $50 for 1gb. Until last week they were offering 4gb for $30. Don't think we'll see the likes of that again...

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[Ry]

I just don't see how they can rationally offer these individual data plans while starting the share plans at $50 for 1gb. Until last week they were offering 4gb for $30. Don't think we'll see the likes of that again...

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Part of the justification could be that the individual plans are "legacy" or that you likely won't be pairing them with unlimited calls and texts.

If they did a double-data promotion on Share Everything, I'd bet that could get more people on individual tiered onto Share Everything.

 

[Menno]

If they took current individual plans and bumped them up to "share everything" plans they could get a ton of converts.

And unlimited voice is pretty pointless anymore. Very few people need beyond the 1400 minute plan, and Verizon will start introducing VoLTE within a year or two, with widespread soon after (higher quality, cheaper to distribute, more secure) so getting people reliant on data (the future) is more important than hooking them with something they most likely won't use anyway.

 

[JHBThree]

I just don't see how they can rationally offer these individual data plans while starting the share plans at $50 for 1gb. Until last week they were offering 4gb for $30. Don't think we'll see the likes of that again...

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Because the shared data plans include multiple devices. Their (flawed) rationale is that you should have to pay out the rear end to share between devices. In reality, they should have just added a 'share everything' option to the current plans, and charged the extra monthly charge for that device on the plan. ($10 for tablets, I believe)

 

[trivor]

Verizon has shown where the future is. No savings on Texting (I don't have a texting plan) or Voice (currently have 700 minutes - most calls are to my wife on a family share plan) and I have the only only smartphone with unlimited data. Currently use 1.5 GB/month (on WiFi as much as possible) with 700 minutes shared Family Plan for two phones - total cost with Taxes and Fees - $88/month. Don't know what I'm going to do if they ever actually take away this plan - the cheapest shared plan that would meet my needs (wife has no interest in smartphone0 would be $40 Smartphone, $30 dumb phone, $60 data = $130 PLUS taxes and fees. While I'm not usually a Verizon hater this is ridiculous. If I ever lose my current plan I may have to look elsewhere (if ATT hasn't already followed).

 

[Travisimo]

I don't mind Verizon offering this new "Share Everything" plan as an OPTION. And for current customers, it seems that it IS just an option FOR NOW. But how discerning will we have to be in the future to make sure we stay off of this new plan? How long will we be able to avoid it?

For new customers, this new FORCED plan SUCKS for anyone who does not need unlimited voice and texts. But that's the whole point, isn't it? Verizon knows that voice and texts are diminishing, so they are FORCING everyone to pay for unlimited voice and texts (and Mobile Hotspot) no matter if you need them or not! "But it's an increased VALUE", says Verizon. ONLY for those who really need unlimited voice and texts.

Here's my breakdown for CURRENT plan versus SHARE EVERYTHING:

CURRENT:

5 Lines with 2 Smartphones and 3 basic phones

Voice Share plan 700 minutes = $50
5 Lines (line charges) = $10 x 5 = $50
250 Texts on 2 lines = $5 x 2 = $10
Unlimited Data on 2 lines = $30 x 2 = $60
TOTAL BILL = $170

SHARE EVERYTHING:

5 Lines with 2 Smartphones and 3 basic phones

2 Smartphones line charge = $40 x 2 = $80
3 basic phones = $30 x 3 = $90
Share Data Plan = (Assuming 2GB per Smartphone, so 4GB might be enough) = $70
TOTAL BILL = $240

So not only would I be giving up Unlimited Data on both of my Smartphone lines, I would end up paying $70 more per month!!! Yes, I know each of my phones would now have unlimited voice and texts, but I don't need that. The 3 lines with basic phones are just voice-only (my mom and junior high kids who only use for voice calls).

NO THANKS VERIZON! What I'll probably end up doing is upgrading my wife's phone at subsized prices and switching her to the 2GB/mo tiered data plan. And when I upgrade this fall, I'll likely just buy my phone unsubsized and keep my unlimited data.

But again, having this Share Everything plan as the ONLY OPTION for new customers (and probably forcing it on current customers eventually) is an atrocity and I hope it bites them hard. Force everything on us to not only *maintain* profits, but to exploit us for MORE profit. It's not enough that they just try to adjust the plans to maintain current profits since voice and data are getting used less. They used it as an OPPORTUNITY to increase profits even more by forcing customers with unwanted features. They're trying to advertise this new plan as a way for customers to save money by sharing data. And if they just had made the option to share data, that would have been great! But instead, they're ALLOWING you to share data at the expense of spoon-feeding everything else to you in this ridiculously priced "line charge" of $40/smartphone and $30/basic phone. The latter is particularly offensive, especially for those with extra lines for "emergencies" or just light voice usage.

 

[RealDogBoy]

My complaint is that Verizon wouldn't be able to do this in a competitive market. AT&T and VZW form an oligopoly. They don't really compete on price -- it's not in their interests to do so.

I would like to see some anti-trust scrutiny -- sooner rather than later.

 

[Ry]

My complaint is that Verizon wouldn't be able to do this in a competitive market. AT&T and VZW form an oligopoly. They don't really compete on price -- it's not in their interests to do so.

I would like to see some anti-trust scrutiny -- sooner rather than later.

It's hard to say that the market is uncompetitive when Sprint and T-Mobile still exist with prices lower than Verizon and AT&T.



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[RealDogBoy]

Sprint and T-Mobile are second-tier carriers. I wish that wasn't the case but, for me and I'm sure many other people, only the big two have adequate networks.

 

[Travisimo]

Sprint and T-Mobile are second-tier carriers. I wish that wasn't the case but, for me and I'm sure many other people, only the big two have adequate networks.

T-Mobile was permanently (and likely irreparably) damaged by their drawn out deal with AT&T that fell through. And while most of us were glad the deal didn't go through, it may be too little too late for them. I believe the last quarter they actually lost subscribers, primarily attributed to their lack of iPhone availability.

Sprint has been similarly (though perhaps not as dramatically) damaged by their failed dealings with Lightsquared. Their WiMax hit a dead end, and their LTE ramp-up is going to be long and difficult. Their current 3G data network is overloaded and only got worse when they started offering the iPhone. It may be too little too late for them as well.

Now obviously neither of them are going away anytime soon, but AT&T and Verizon is where all of the growth is at. And I am in agreement that an oligopoly is the best way to describe the current US mobile landscape. There really needs to be some kind of shakeup to end anti-competitive practices. You can be sure that AT&T upcoming Share plans are going to be VERY similar to Verizon's because there's really no pressure from either company to lower prices.

 

[Ry]

Unless some crazy merger with a bunch of regionals that have the same network technologies occurs, I feel that T-Mobile and Sprint are the only two players that can disrupt AT&T and Verizon.

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[JHBThree]

T-Mobile was permanently (and likely irreparably) damaged by their drawn out deal with AT&T that fell through. And while most of us were glad the deal didn't go through, it may be too little too late for them. I believe the last quarter they actually lost subscribers, primarily attributed to their lack of iPhone availability.

Sprint has been similarly (though perhaps not as dramatically) damaged by their failed dealings with Lightsquared. Their WiMax hit a dead end, and their LTE ramp-up is going to be long and difficult. Their current 3G data network is overloaded and only got worse when they started offering the iPhone. It may be too little too late for them as well.

Now obviously neither of them are going away anytime soon, but AT&T and Verizon is where all of the growth is at. And I am in agreement that an oligopoly is the best way to describe the current US mobile landscape. There really needs to be some kind of shakeup to end anti-competitive practices. You can be sure that AT&T upcoming Share plans are going to be VERY similar to Verizon's because there's really no pressure from either company to lower prices.

T-Mobile was not permanently harmed. If anything, the failure left them better off thanks to billions of dollars, a roaming agreement with att, and badly needed spectrum. Hell, the mergers failure is bankrolling their LTE roll out.

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[Ry]

T-Mobile was not permanently harmed. If anything, the failure left them better off thanks to billions of dollars, a roaming agreement with att, and badly needed spectrum. Hell, the mergers failure is bankrolling their LTE roll out.

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Which is going to LTE-Advanced, not LTE.

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[briankeene]

I'm hanging on by a thread to Sprint. They are upgrading in the Chicago area and supposed to be complete in my area real soon. It has been a nightmare.
I stopped in verizon yesterday, the new plan didn't sound too bad. I would be paying about the same with 2 smartphones and 6gb of shared data, I would never use that much. Verizon doesn't have a phone that is comparable to my Evo 4g LTE. The GS3 is coming soon, I'm really surprised they have no upper end HTC devices.

 

[Mercury81]

Well I'm hanging in there also, I love that I was able to get the latest and greatest from Sprint. I also can't wait to get the new LTE network on my Evo4GLTE so I can enjoy t the speed and receptions other speak about on Sprint.:thumbup:

from Evo4GLTE on Android Central