Mark this day. Verizon’s ridiculously expensive shared plan is going to do in the wireless providers and give more boost to the prepaid market. Why? The stupid $30 a pop cost for regular phones and $40 a pop for smartphones. And considering that many industry observers believe the rest of the big four would follow suit, it looks more like this is about the carriers trying to “meterize” data.
Remember, AT&T regretted going with the unlimited data plan and I’m sure its competitors at the time were like “what are you thinking”?
So, what happens now? As a Verizon subscriber, I find this plan to be idiotic and once my service is up, I’m likely to shop around. So far, my family plan only has onewo smartphone and if I were to add more and be forced to switch over to Verizon’s new plan, I will definitely be leaving. Grandfathered unlimited data plan be damned. Obviously, I could go the unsubsidized route and keep my current plan. What happens depends on what I find more appealing from Verizon’s competitors.
If anything, I can see myself switch a few of our lines to more affordable $45 Straight Talk plans which also offers unlimited talk, text, and data (again, unlimited data means 2 or 3 GB of high-speed use before metering starts).
I currently pay $175 to Verizon for 1400 minutes and texting for two lines plus one unlimited data plan. If I switch over Verizon’s new scheme, I could end up paying $220.
Not very appealing. And judging by the chatter in forums I've visited so far, no one is jumping all over this. It's likely Verizon has taken the first step towards killing off the post-paid market and will drive tens of millions mobile warriors into the arms of Walmart and Target for cheaper and more sane pre-paid plans.
No comments:
Post a Comment