Better Upgrade Soon, Verizon killing Grandfathering Unlimited LTE

[Red Storm]

wtf do u guys download that requires so much data?

Pandora/Google Music, YouTube, Netflix, HBO Go, Dropbox, streaming sports, general web browsing, a few apps that I use for work (remote management and ticket tracking), tethering, etc. Lots of reasons. I have unlimited data, so I don't worry over usage.

 

[Anonemous]

So who are you guys going to switch to? Tmobile? Sprint? At&T?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Well with that in mind, when my contract comes up for renewal I may just can my VZW service and head to Sprint who still offers unlimited data.

Unlimited doesn't mean much when the speeds are so low.

You have to find a balance of a reasonable cap and a reasonable speed.

 

[Red Storm]

So who are you guys going to switch to? Tmobile? Sprint? At&T?

T-Mobile if it happens. Funny thing is work pays my phone bill, which right now is ~$80. I wonder what kind of data plan I could get with T-Mobile for $80.

 

[RockinZ28]

wtf do u guys download that requires so much data?

Download? Not much, although just browsing the web throughout a month usually uses at least 1-2GB. I desktop view only.

It's the streaming HD video of Netflix and MLB.tv that really ups my usage. If they take away the unlimited, there will be basically no point to LTE, other than loading a webpage .5s faster...

I'm not going to be paying $50, $80 etc for a few extra GB's. Blast through GB like crazy at home, several hundred a month and it's only $50.

 

[RockinZ28]

Since I currently have a 4G device with unlimited I wonder if I get to keep unlimited with future upgrades. If not I'll just buy full retail and upgrade much less often. It's worth it to have unlimited data on VZ.

"LTE is our anchor point for data share. So, as you come through an upgrade cycle and you upgrade in the future, you will have to go on to the data share plan. And moving away from, if you will, the unlimited world and moving everyone into a tiered structure data share plan."

Looks to be no upgrades regardless of what you're coming from if you want to keep the unlimited. Can only hope buying retail circumvents this, but wouldn't doubt that having to activate and get a sim card will negate that too as mentioned.

 

[Bateluer]

Looks to be no upgrades regardless of what you're coming from if you want to keep the unlimited. Can only hope buying retail circumvents this, but wouldn't doubt that having to activate and get a sim card will negate that too as mentioned.

This has already been likely debunked too. Once your contract period ends, Verizon can move you to a tiered plan. While you're under contract terms, they can't touch it. But once you're out, they can do as they wish. Doesn't matter where you buy the phone from.

 

[Red Storm]

This has already been likely debunked too. Once your contract period ends, Verizon can move you to a tiered plan. While you're under contract terms, they can't touch it. But once you're out, they can do as they wish. Doesn't matter where you buy the phone from.

Yeah I'm worried this is how it will be. I'm under contract until March 2013, will need to hear more about this.

 

[Bateluer]

So who are you guys going to switch to? Tmobile? Sprint? At&T?

I'd likely go to T-Mobile as well. Thought about Sprint, but Phoenix isn't on their list of LTE cities and their 3G coverage here is a joke. Whereas TMO is actually pretty good. Plus, they have the advantage of being a GSM carrier, and once they flip on that spectrum from AT&T's failed hostile taker over, one should be able to take a very wide range of international devices onto their network.

Hypothetically, if a Verizon customer was fed up and wanted to change carriers once their contract was up, what order would you have to do things in to keep your existing phone number? Assume the customer in question would purchase a phone from the Play Store.

 

[Anubis]

wtf do u guys download that requires so much data?

so far this month I have 1.2 GB used by Google Music and 2.2 GB used by slacker Radio, thats 3.4 gigs just from streaming music, the rest is aps, web browsing and some maps

ZERO of that is vids, i dont watch vids on my phone

 

[Anonemous]

I'd likely go to T-Mobile as well. Thought about Sprint, but Phoenix isn't on their list of LTE cities and their 3G coverage here is a joke. Whereas TMO is actually pretty good. Plus, they have the advantage of being a GSM carrier, and once they flip on that spectrum from AT&T's failed hostile taker over, one should be able to take a very wide range of international devices onto their network.

Hypothetically, if a Verizon customer was fed up and wanted to change carriers once their contract was up, what order would you have to do things in to keep your existing phone number? Assume the customer in question would purchase a phone from the Play Store.

I remembered when I first switched numbers I had to get the phone first, call in to activate, and then ask the new carrier to port in the number.

 

[lothar]

To be fair, the reason they have such good coverage and speed is they run their business efficiently. Sometimes that means making brutal decisions.

Verizon has good coverage and speed because they spend more money upgrading their infrastructure instead of mostly paying off regulators like AT&T does.

 

[kaerflog]

Makes me glad I'm still on T-Mobile.
My bills are so damm cheap with TMo.
I used to bitch and moan about Tmo because whenever I travel I get such shitty reception but in my city(Orlando) their HSPA+ is very good.
On my speed test I get 5-11mbps.
While its no LTE, for mobile, the speed from Tmo is more than adequate.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Well with that in mind, when my contract comes up for renewal I may just can my VZW service and head to Sprint who still offers unlimited data.

Lol I thought the same way until I found out the unlimited data is due to the fact its horribly slow. Unlimited data means nothing when it takes 3 minutes to load a site with only text. Save yourself the headache and stay with Verizon. I can't over emphasize this enough.

 

[lothar]

Well with that in mind, when my contract comes up for renewal I may just can my VZW service and head to Sprint who still offers unlimited data.

 

[Kingbee13]

Apparently at&t is planning to do the same thing if you can believe bloomberg, and I do. collusion?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...faceoff-with-at-t-over-family-plans-tech.html

its hard to make a call on this yet without knowing the pricing and data tiers, but I dont think it will be good for consumers

I just wish cable, phone, and wireless companies would just die and become the dumb data pipes they are destined for.

 

[dartworth]

Preparing for the iPhone 5?

 

[AstroManLuca]

I'd likely go to T-Mobile as well. Thought about Sprint, but Phoenix isn't on their list of LTE cities and their 3G coverage here is a joke. Whereas TMO is actually pretty good. Plus, they have the advantage of being a GSM carrier, and once they flip on that spectrum from AT&T's failed hostile taker over, one should be able to take a very wide range of international devices onto their network.

Hypothetically, if a Verizon customer was fed up and wanted to change carriers once their contract was up, what order would you have to do things in to keep your existing phone number? Assume the customer in question would purchase a phone from the Play Store.

Yeah you will need to get the new phone first, get a sim card for it, activate, then port your number to the sim card. When you port it will automatically cancel that line on the other carrier.

Personally I haven't heard much bad about Verizon other than their putting crapware on all their phones and high prices. But their coverage is excellent, their data is fast, they have the best LTE network, and they've always given good customer service in my personal experience (parents/brother have been with them for years). If cost is your concern then T-Mobile is your best option.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Exactly how I felt

Sprint sucks

Hey guys, so this means even if I renew my contract, I can't keep my unlimited? :C

I download roms like crazy. On a weekly basis. (10gbs a month)

 

[boomhower]

I could be OK with this depending on how they do it. I have long been wanting data buckets. Both me and my wife have iphones and between the two of us we use around 2GB's a month. We would both like to have our iPads connected as well but not at another $60 a month. If they do something like a 5GB bucket for $50 a month that I can connect all the devices I want to it I'll be more than happy to leave unlimited.

 

[Bateluer]

Yeah you will need to get the new phone first, get a sim card for it, activate, then port your number to the sim card. When you port it will automatically cancel that line on the other carrier.

Personally I haven't heard much bad about Verizon other than their putting crapware on all their phones and high prices. But their coverage is excellent, their data is fast, they have the best LTE network, and they've always given good customer service in my personal experience (parents/brother have been with them for years). If cost is your concern then T-Mobile is your best option.

The ongoing Galaxy Nexus debacle.

I'm still on contract until next April, however, if I want to get on Nexus devices, I'll need to be on a GSM carrier. I'm not going to do anything for quite a while, since I've 11 months left on my contact. Unless Vzw decides to simply move me to a tiered plan, which would be outright illegal.

 

[Red Storm]

The ongoing Galaxy Nexus debacle.

I'm still on contract until next April, however, if I want to get on Nexus devices, I'll need to be on a GSM carrier. I'm not going to do anything for quite a while, since I've 11 months left on my contact. Unless Vzw decides to simply move me to a tiered plan, which would be outright illegal.

Yeah I'm on contract till March, so I figure I'll just wait things out and make the jump to T-Mobile after the new round of Nexus devices come out.

 

[foghorn67]

Sprint is okay in my area. It's fast enough to stream music, I'm happy.
I'll just switch back to Sprint.

 

[s44]

Damn iPhone users.

 

[Bateluer]

Yeah I'm on contract till March, so I figure I'll just wait things out and make the jump to T-Mobile after the new round of Nexus devices come out.

This is my plan as well. As irritated as I am over the Nexus, I'm not willing to pay the ETF yet.


http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/verizon-clarifies-shared-data-plans/

Verizon’s e-mailed statement, in full:

– Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
– When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
– Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.
– The same pricing and policies will be applied to all 3G and 4GLTE smartphones.