Verizon bumps smartphone subsidy upgrade wait time to full 24 months

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  • Reply 21 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Shogun View Post



    They gave no reason? I'll give you a reason: Their service blows. The towers decimate the phone's batteries when you're on the Internet, the call quality is junk, and now there is more competition than ever. That is all.


     


    Their service sucks?!  Have you ever used Verizon?  They have data coverage everywhere and calls never drop.

  • Reply 22 of 49
    Wonder how this will impact Apple revenues? I would think a lot I their biz is people with iPhones upgrading often. That pushes that revenue out farther. I have AT&T and I get an upgrade every 16-17 months. AT&T I think cuts off time based on how high your monthly bill is.
  • Reply 23 of 49
    shogunshogun Posts: 362member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    It's because they are largest US carrier and they do a large committed following that they can offer this without back lash. If there service really did blow they would instead be forced to attract more customers through incentives. When you see a centive it's because the company has the control position.

    Well, Captain Clever, I was going to back my wife out of Verizon ASAP, which I was hoping would be 20 months. Now they get four more months before we're gone. So I'm not sure that supports your position.
  • Reply 24 of 49
    shogunshogun Posts: 362member
    Their service sucks?!  Have you ever used Verizon?  They have data coverage everywhere and calls never drop.

    Let's see. Did I mention data coverage in my explanation of blowage? No. No I did not. Did I mention call drops? Gosh no. No I didn't. So there you go.
  • Reply 25 of 49
    macbook promacbook pro Posts: 1,605member
    mindcrime wrote: »
    Wonder how this will impact Apple revenues? I would think a lot I their biz is people with iPhones upgrading often. That pushes that revenue out farther. I have AT&T and I get an upgrade every 16-17 months. AT&T I think cuts off time based on how high your monthly bill is.


    If I am paying T-Mobile, for example, less then I can afford to upgrade more often. In fact, my guess is that the resell value of a one year old iPhone easily covers the upfront cost of a new iPhone.
  • Reply 26 of 49
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Shogun View Post

    Let's see. Did I mention data coverage in my explanation of blowage? No. No I did not. Did I mention call drops? Gosh no. No I didn't. So there you go.


     


    Okay, but neither of your statements are true, either.

  • Reply 27 of 49
    shogunshogun Posts: 362member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Okay, but neither of your statements are true, either.



    The verizon cell system uses more power than does AT&T's.  That's a fact.  So it does eat your battery if you're used to ATT.  iPhone to iPhone call quality is horrible in the Detroit area where I live, again as compared to ATT, which I had on iPhone for 4 years.  I guess I should have done all the yada yada "in my experience", "in my location", "on my phone", caveat-adding, but I thought it was kind of obvious.


     


    Anyhow, bad day at work, so sorry for being an a$$.  It's all good...

  • Reply 28 of 49
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    shogun wrote: »
    Let's see. Did I mention data coverage in my explanation of blowage? No. No I did not. Did I mention call drops? Gosh no. No I didn't. So there you go.

    So exactly how does their service suck?
  • Reply 29 of 49
    shogunshogun Posts: 362member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    So exactly how does their service suck?


    Oh my gosh, are you serious?  You must have read my initial post...  Go back and read it again

  • Reply 30 of 49
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    shogun wrote: »
    The verizon cell system uses more power than does AT&T's.  That's a fact.  So it does eat your battery if you're used to ATT.  iPhone to iPhone call quality is horrible in the Detroit area where I live, again as compared to ATT, which I had on iPhone for 4 years.  I guess I should have done all the yada yada "in my experience", "in my location", "on my phone", caveat-adding, but I thought it was kind of obvious.

    Anyhow, bad day at work, so sorry for being an a$$.  It's all good...

    You have no idea what you're talking about. CDMA uses less power than GSM.
    Edit: you're right CDMA phones use more power than GSM phones, it's the network itself that uses less power because less cell towers are needed.
  • Reply 31 of 49
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Shogun View Post


    The verizon cell system uses more power than does AT&T's.  That's a fact. .



     


    That can be true when comparing 2G voice and data.  Depends on tower distance and congestion.  OTOH, GSM drops many more calls than CDMA, so it's a trade-off.


     


    It does not apply to 3G, as UMTS for GSM uses a WCDMA radio for data (and for simultaneous voice+data), with a higher clock that can use more power.

  • Reply 32 of 49
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    shogun wrote: »
    Well, Captain Clever, I was going to back my wife out of Verizon ASAP, which I was hoping would be 20 months. Now they get four more months before we're gone. So I'm not sure that supports your position.

    The good news is that nothing has gotten worse for you and your wife. The 20 month upgrade eligibility plan works by allowing you that early upgrade option for a new phone on contract. In no way did it allow you leaving Verizon for another before your contract had expired.

    Consider that you have either $5 or $10 dropping off your account every month since you started the contract. If you really hate Verizon that much why not just pay the remaining ETF fee and get her to your carrier. It doesn't sound like cost is your primary concern but being on a shared plan and on AT&T will likely make up that difference in no time.
  • Reply 33 of 49
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    kdarling wrote: »
    That can be true when comparing 2G voice and data.  Depends on tower distance and congestion.  OTOH, GSM drops many more calls than CDMA, so it's a trade-off.

    It does not apply to 3G, as UMTS for GSM uses a WCDMA radio for data (and for simultaneous voice+data), with a higher clock that can use more power.

    Tower against tower GSM wins in power consumption, but in a equal area with multiple towers CDMA will win because the need of less towers.
  • Reply 34 of 49
    jlanddjlandd Posts: 873member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wakefinance View Post


     


    Their service sucks?!  Have you ever used Verizon?  They have data coverage everywhere and calls never drop.



     


    They have great coverage and line quality.   But the Verizon customer experience is hands down the worst of any company I've ever had to deal with on a continuous basis.  Not blind to the fact that being a customer of any of the other phone companies may not be great shakes either (and nothing is perfect any way you turn), but I've been counting the days until the last phone contract on our family plan is over for a long time and then it's Anywhere-But-Verizon for me.   


     


    They have to have one of the WORST sites for a major tech company.   Complete mess.  Landline bills, DSL and cell are completely separate entities yet are jumbled together and keep tripping over each other on the Verizon sites.   Problems with billing are impossible to solve online.  You want to pay a bill and after five minutes feel like shooting yourself in the head, which doesn't make you feel great about being under contract.   So you stop by a Verizon store.  Don't know how it is elsewhere, but In all of their stores in NYC and its 5 boroughs there's a sense that they get the employees from the pool after McDonalds and KFC have already taken their picks.   So aside from the coverage and drop rate, yes, I would say their service totally sucks  :  )

  • Reply 35 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Shogun View Post





    Let's see. Did I mention data coverage in my explanation of blowage? No. No I did not. Did I mention call drops? Gosh no. No I didn't. So there you go.


     


    Those are the two primary reasons why the service of a cell provider might suck.  Pardon me for assuming you had a real reason for saying Verizon was terrible.

  • Reply 36 of 49
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    Tower against tower GSM wins in power consumption, but in a equal area with multiple towers CDMA will win because the need of less towers.


     


    A pretty pointless argument as no-one in the western world is trying to decide whether to build a GSM or IS-95 network anymore. 

  • Reply 37 of 49
    rattlhedrattlhed Posts: 155member


    I left Verizon several years ago and when to AT&T when the iPhone 3 came out...I've stayed with AT&T because I'm grandfathered in under their unlimited data plan.  But to be honest, their service isn't all that bad and the coverage here is Seattle is pretty solid.  Also, i can upgrade my plan after 18 months (which I did for the iPhone 5) and now that Verizon is pulling this stunt, I have zero desire to ever go back to them.  

  • Reply 38 of 49
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I thought I had seen everything. I never would have imagined we'd start measuring the size of our cell towers.

    it's quite pointless to do. You either have to be all inclusive which requires an exhaustive number of variables that can effect performance through a large range that is constantly changing or you have to be very specific about what you are comparing at which point it's a pointless as the actual usage depends on an exhaustive number of variables.
  • Reply 39 of 49
    I can't quite work it out,

    Surely 20 months gives them 4 months to renew the contract for another 24 months.
    AT 24 months the customer might have already gone AWOL.

    Is it worth it? They almost appear seem to think the customer has no choice so are stuck with them anyway.
  • Reply 40 of 49
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    richl wrote: »
    A pretty pointless argument as no-one in the western world is trying to decide whether to build a GSM or IS-95 network anymore. 

    Most arguments are pointless.
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