Verizon 300MB/$20 data plan

[sandsjh]

Verizon has 300MB at $20/mo for a limited time. Saw it today.

Obviously, I did not change my unlimited data plan for those that would question such.

[dictoresno]

that sounds like a rip off to me. why would anyone choose that.

[sandsjh]

I know a lot of people that use less than 300MB/mo. Last month I used 233MB on my BB... 6.7GB on my MiFi lol

[elvin1983]

I don't understand why VZW does this kind of thing... AT&T offers their 2GB plan for $25, why would VZW do 300MB for $20... Ridiculous...

[deRusett]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

that sounds like a rip off to me. why would anyone choose that.

Originally Posted by elvin1983

I don't understand why VZW does this kind of thing... AT&T offers their 2GB plan for $25, why would VZW do 300MB for $20... Ridiculous...

It is PURELY price point

IF you want a device but are on a tight budget saving $5/month (60/year) could mean you get sauce on your pasta for dinner 2 nights a week.


My Good friends, who has no cellphone, is fighting with his wife because she wants a BlackBerry or iPhone rather than her dumb phone, and he can't conceptualize why she would want to pay more than $40/month for a mobile device, he has a hard time with the $30/month she pays now.

His Brother is heavily pushing for the iPhone, and I just am pointing out BlackBerry, and Samsung to him as alternatives for his wife, not KEEN on her having a BlackBerry due to she will add my phones to BBM and I'll get to be the "call boy" when HE is being looked for. but I digress, BlackBerry is Winning the fight because I have shown usage of approximately 2MB/day for her usage, so she is able to get a 500MB data plan from Bell, His Brother has not been able to show under 15MB/day usage on his iPhone, which is 450MB and still falls under 500MB, but that does mean cutting it close and risk overage, THE monthly cost is the BIGGEST thing for this debate at their home, IF she can keep her usage at sub 500MB and sub 250 SMS, and sub 200min data with their discounts she can pay $50/month, any variation over that increases their bill by $10-30/month,

This $20 for 300MB opens up the smartphone world to that one more person who has a threshold. really if I was verizon I would offer a "flex rate" at $10/100MB, that would be a KILLER Curve message phone companion as many users would remain under 100MB

[ThePoisonBerry]

Originally Posted by deRusett

It is PURELY price point

IF you want a device but are on a tight budget saving $5/month (60/year) could mean you get sauce on your pasta for dinner 2 nights a week.


My Good friends, who has no cellphone, is fighting with his wife because she wants a BlackBerry or iPhone rather than her dumb phone, and he can't conceptualize why she would want to pay more than $40/month for a mobile device, he has a hard time with the $30/month she pays now.

His Brother is heavily pushing for the iPhone, and I just am pointing out BlackBerry, and Samsung to him as alternatives for his wife, not KEEN on her having a BlackBerry due to she will add my phones to BBM and I'll get to be the "call boy" when HE is being looked for. but I digress, BlackBerry is Winning the fight because I have shown usage of approximately 2MB/day for her usage, so she is able to get a 500MB data plan from Bell, His Brother has not been able to show under 15MB/day usage on his iPhone, which is 450MB and still falls under 500MB, but that does mean cutting it close and risk overage, THE monthly cost is the BIGGEST thing for this debate at their home, IF she can keep her usage at sub 500MB and sub 250 SMS, and sub 200min data with their discounts she can pay $50/month, any variation over that increases their bill by $10-30/month,

This $20 for 300MB opens up the smartphone world to that one more person who has a threshold. really if I was verizon I would offer a "flex rate" at $10/100MB, that would be a KILLER Curve message phone companion as many users would remain under 100MB

att has 250 for $15 and 2gb for $25
t-mo is about 250 for $10!

Big Red is just a rip off.

[MisterObvious]

If they want the iPhone the best way is to flash it to a prepaid line.

[sandsjh]

Straighttalk unlocked SIM works WONDERFUL for using my iPhone on AT&T. All the benefits of AT&T for $45/mo.

I only use it to play games and used 143MB data last month.

[shemaree09]

Originally Posted by dictoresno

that sounds like a rip off to me. why would anyone choose that.

not really.

I use wifi on my phone at least 70% of the time (Work, School, and friends' houses)

I watch Youtube videos, stream pandora, check twitter, facebook, BBM, BBM Music all the time and only used about 70mb for the month.

Why not save a little extra money if you're not using all that data anyway?

[BlackBerryMagnet]

Originally Posted by shemaree09

not really.

I use wifi on my phone at least 70% of the time (Work, School, and friends' houses)

I watch Youtube videos, stream pandora, check twitter, facebook, BBM, BBM Music all the time and only used about 70mb for the month.

Why not save a little extra money if you're not using all that data anyway?

Many good points made in this thread. Even though having a plan with that small of a threshold does serve what would be an unserved customer group, as shemaree09 has pointed out rather well, I think that $20 a month for 300 MB is a bit much. Ever heard of private/generic labeling in any given store? Mostly the same product made by a well known brand name but sold in different packaging to get sales from all demographics. There are plenty of exceptions that fall into the "you get what you pay for" category.

I'm not sure about phone data but for most of 2011, VZW's basic data plan for netbooks, tablets and cards was 2 GB of data for $20 / month. But now, at the same rate the 300 MB limit, only 1/6th of the previous limit, costs the same! That is a significant difference between the service and cost for paying the same rate. Then in late 2011 to the present, the new base rate jumped to $30 for 2 GB!

But back to the same rate for less data trick, that's typical reverse profitizing (how about that word). Yep, decrease the product quantity or service features without increasing the price. This is easily done all the time in the food industry or any industry that can manipulate the look or container of a product. The price remains the same, but the portions, or in this case, the features get smaller. Decreasing a physical product is much easier to hide than obvious numbers though, and that's what is so obvious here. Who likes to hear about a price increase? Nobody, so they just take something away from the other side.

Has anyone noticed any data thottling (lagging, latency) when using a really low threshold data plan? It's an electronic brake that prevents lower tier customers from getting the same results, such as speed, as the higher tiered customers get. That's usually one the downsides to the lower tiered plans.

I was told that although "unlimited" plans don't have a defined threshold, if you start using what the carrier considers excessive bandwidth, they will throttle your account so you could possibly experience lag, latency, etc.. Additionally, if your usage is significantly affecting their network they can also just shut down your account. Make no mistake, the carrier will come out on top no matter what.

[cbreze]

For anyone on a very tight budget this might work, only providing they use very little data, as going over is another $20 for 300MB additional. Now you'd be over the $30/2GB plan. I like to stream some radio while I'm working around the house and in a couple days I'd be well over that limit. One just needs to be sure of their needs, but keeping an eye on the data meter would def be prudent with this type of plan. One could always try it and if the limit is uncomfortably close to soon just swap to the 2GB plan.

[jgsinc1]

Verizon has a data plan that is 2gb for $30 a month why would you pay $20 for 300mb and have to worry about going over that limit. From my understanding as long as you had a phone line with the unlimited data you can keep the unlimited.

You might want to check on that.

[BlackBerryMagnet]

Originally Posted by shemaree09

not really.

I use wifi on my phone at least 70% of the time (Work, School, and friends' houses)

I watch Youtube videos, stream pandora, check twitter, facebook, BBM, BBM Music all the time and only used about 70mb for the month.

Why not save a little extra money if you're not using all that data anyway?

One other thing I forgot to mention. Other than someone possibly having no financial choice, constantly depending on the proximity of wifi defeats the purpose and flexibility of being mobile. Even though those points were good about using wifi for heavy data usage and/or frequent proximity to it anyway, because of that, you are virtually tethered if you want to access anything that consumes alot of data, or pay for the consequences of going over. As more and more video content becomes prevalent on the net, with such a low data limit, you and others are going to be stuck.

Originally Posted by cbreze

For anyone on a very tight budget this might work, only providing they use very little data, as going over is another $20 for 300MB additional. . .

You ain't kidding. I just found out that fact when talking to VZW recently. I thought it was just $10 for another 1 GB but like you said it's $20 for only 300 MB!

Originally Posted by jgsinc1

Verizon has a data plan that is 2gb for $30 a month why would you pay $20 for 300mb and have to worry about going over that limit. . . .

Budgets are budgets but if you slip up and go over . . . I totally agree.

[shemaree09]

Originally Posted by BlackBerryMagnet

One other thing I forgot to mention. Other than someone possibly having no financial choice, constantly depending on the proximity of wifi defeats the purpose and flexibility of being mobile. Even though those points were good about using wifi for heavy data usage and/or frequent proximity to it anyway, because of that, you are virtually tethered if you want to access anything that consumes alot of data, or pay for the consequences of going over. As more and more video content becomes prevalent on the net, with such a low data limit, you and others are going to be stuck.





You ain't kidding. I just found out that fact when talking to VZW recently. I thought it was just $10 for another 1 GB but like you said it's $20 for only 300 MB!





Budgets are budgets but if you slip up and go over . . . I totally agree.

You're right, but since I already pay $40/mo for internet at home, why not use it for my phone too.

I'm also lucky enough to be able to connect to wifi at work.

Since I spend most of my time at work and home, using wifi works out really well.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[BB.David]

That was fast... Verizon seems to have axed the $20/month plan for smartphones.

With a minimum of $30/month for 2GB this makes Verizon the most expensive U.S. carrier.

Verizon:
$30/month for 2GB
$50/month for 5GB (NO mobile hotspot / tethering included)

AT&T:
$20/month for 300MB
$30/month for 3GB
$50/month for 5GB (with mobile hotspot / tethering included)