Verizon Plans to Discontinue 1-year Contracts Effective April 17

[boomhower]

One thing I have noticed about other countries is their data allowances suck. It seems a lot max out at 1GB and then start overages. I'll take this clustered mess we have now in exchange for decent data allowances.

 

[tommo123]

well,i'm in the UK and have 3GB usage with my HTC desire with t-mobile.

 

[misle]

This is why I got the Thunderbolt on 1 year contract ^_^

I tried to do this today.

Yesterday, I checked the website: 1 Year contract, Thunderbolt = $269.99

Today, I go to order on the website: No option for 1 year contract. :hmm:

I call Verizon, they will still do 1 year until Sunday, but phone now costs $319.99 D:

Now I'm just pissed.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

One thing I have noticed about other countries is their data allowances suck. It seems a lot max out at 1GB and then start overages. I'll take this clustered mess we have now in exchange for decent data allowances.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/10/us-canada-lead-the-world-in-expensive-cell-packages.ars

 

[akugami]

even more reason to buy phones second hand and avoid contracts all together. i'm with verizon and cant really imagine switching, had at&t and it blew big time, so had to switch to verizon. Now i can actually make phone calls, at&t dropped calls couple times a day. I can count the number of dropped calls with verizon on about 3 fingers, in about a years time. Sprint is a joke around here as well.

Network quality is hit or miss. It depends on location as well as how many people are using that tower. Over where I live, AT&T has very good coverage. Equal to Verizon and certainly better than T-Mobile, my last carrier.

Sadly, with the state of cell phone prices in the USA, it makes no sense to buy/bring a second hand phone without signing a contract anyways. Unless you're with a smaller carrier like Cricket, MetroPCS, etc., you're still paying the subsidized price for cell phone coverage from Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. Those smaller carriers do charge you a subsidized price but it's more palatable than from the big four carriers. If you don't need data, there's not much you can do but if you do use a smart phone, it might be better to get something like the iPhone (even if you don't like iPhones) and sell that while going with a cheaper smart phone you get second hand.

I really wish the US would dump contract phones altogether and switch to an all-prepaid model. It's not going to happen, and I think a lot of people might disagree with me about this... but my view is that the situation that I find in other countries is much better than the situation in the US (and Canada). You choose your phone and then you shop around for a carrier and I find that their rates are cheaper and they are all vastly more competitive than in the US. Things like tethering, text messages, data caps - they are all cheaper and more negotiable. Even the phones are generally a lot cheaper.

We'd all have cheaper rates in the US (and Canada) if there were more carriers, shorter or more limited contracts, and everyone went prepaid. If you could port your number for $10 and your phone worked on any carrier, and your carrier implemented a data cap that you didn't like... you'd walk. They raise SMS/text rates, you'd walk... here in the US we are all trapped. You get a chance to walk every two years and then it's a huge hassle to move if you have a whole family...

Man, I've been saying this for a long long time. Studies have shown that the US and Canada (where phones are primarily subsidized) have the highest cell phone bills. Places where subsidized plans are practically unheard of have almost dirt cheap cell phone plans.

In the Ars Technica article that DLeRium linked to, and which I've mentioned in previous threads, Hong Kong citizens and Indians pay less than $15 for services similar to what is in a $60 plan in the USA. Even allowing for higher cost of labor and other costs in the US and Canada there is no reason why today's $60 plan can't be $30'ish unsubsidized and still make decent money for the carriers. Hell, look at their profits. AT&T in the quarter ending Dec 31 2010 earned just over $3 billion. That's not revenues, that's profits. Revenues was over $30 billion.

 

[shortylickens]

The hell with Verizon. They been screwin me over for 3 years but like a battered wife I keep going back.
Now they nix one year plans and looking at their website, seem to be charging slightly more for no-contract phones.
Forget it. Gonna get the phone I want from Amazon and then tether to Virgin Mobile.

SCREW EM!

 

[lothar]

The hell with Verizon. They been screwin me over for 3 years but like a battered wife I keep going back.
Now they nix one year plans and looking at their website, seem to be charging slightly more for no-contract phones.
Forget it. Gonna get the phone I want from Amazon and then tether to Virgin Mobile.

SCREW EM!

Virgin Mobile allows you to bring your own device?

 

[uli2000]

The hell with Verizon. They been screwin me over for 3 years but like a battered wife I keep going back.
Now they nix one year plans and looking at their website, seem to be charging slightly more for no-contract phones.
Forget it. Gonna get the phone I want from Amazon and then tether to Virgin Mobile.

SCREW EM!

Hope you like VM phones, because that's all they will allow activated on their network.

 

[masterxfob]

go with page plus cellular, they use the same verizon network. the plan i'm on has 1200 minutes, 2000 texts, 100mb data, all for $30/month. i just ported over my droid 2 global and it's working out great.

 

[shortylickens]

OK, so two people on this forum dont know what tether means.

 

[mammador]

I don't get why the US is so contract-phone intensive. Prepaid has a higher up-front cost, but at least the phone is yours to do as you please with. No legal obligations to xyz carrier for 2 or 3 years.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I don't get why the US is so contract-phone intensive. Prepaid has a higher up-front cost, but at least the phone is yours to do as you please with. No legal obligations to xyz carrier for 2 or 3 years.

Plus, no subsidies mean handsets makers need to compete on price as well as specs. Carriers love it because it locks their users on 2 year contracts. Handset makers love it because the lower cost barrier brings higher volume.