Verizon Unlimited plan resurrected with 4G, talk, text for $80 per month [u]

AppleInsider

Verizon has re-launched an unlimited data plan for the first time in years, with Verizon Unlimited giving subscribers unlimited data, talk, and text for $80 per month with a single line.

Verizon's YouTube channel first announced the plan. The first line costs $80 per month, with $60 for the second line, and $20 per additional line after that, up to ten max requiring paper-free billing and auto-pay enabled. Data may be throttled in congested areas after a single user hits 22GB.

The plan includes a "Mobile Hotspot" feature with 10GB of 4G LTE data. After the 10GB is consumed, speeds drop to 3G equivalent rates.

Calling and texting to Mexico and Canada are included in the plan, as is up to 500MB per day of 4G LTE roaming in either country as well.

Additionally, video streams are transcoded to 720p resolution. Audio streams will also be compressed, according to Verizon.

T-Mobile offers it's own "One" plan for $70 per month, but with lower bitrate video. Sprint has a similar plan for $60. AT&T's unlimited plan requires participants to be enrolled in DirecTV, and still costs $100 per month.

Verizon dropped its previous unlimited plan in 2011, around the same time AT&T dispatched its own that debuted with the original iPhone.

Michael3357

And here in Commie Canada the best we can get for $80 a month is 4gb of data with the big three. Oh and its $50 a gb after that.  but hey, I guess personal hotspot is a free feature. 

TheRodian1

February 13th, 3:51 am, switched at about 3am and have been rocking the unlimited Verizon data for almost an hour now. Still checking my pulse to make sure this is actually real. Hahahaha. 

macxpress

We'll see how long this lasts...

MacPro

One has to wonder what will come down the pike once net neutrality is a fond memory.  I guess we'll be distracted by the polluted air and water though.

larrya

Isn't it interesting.  Unlimited plans were taken away for claims of network capacity, yet even with the build-outs of the last few years I'll bet subscriptions and demand have increased more.  This change reinforces the idea that the demise of original unlimited plans was a naked money grab.

macxpress

larrya said:

Isn't it interesting.  Unlimited plans were taken away for claims of network capacity, yet even with the build-outs of the last few years I'll bet subscriptions and demand have increased more.  This change reinforces the idea that the demise of original unlimited plans was a naked money grab.

Of course it was! Carriers, at least in the US are money grabbing scumbags. They absolutely rape everyone on data. its completely ridiculous. They're really no better than cable companies who do the same thing. They complain about their network capacity, and spew out BS that customers really don't need high-speed internet and nobody actually wants it. Nobody should be downloading more than X amount of data. Its to keep a balance so everyone has equal data, etc, etc. We've heard it all. 

freshmaker

macxpress said:

larrya said:

Isn't it interesting.  Unlimited plans were taken away for claims of network capacity, yet even with the build-outs of the last few years I'll bet subscriptions and demand have increased more.  This change reinforces the idea that the demise of original unlimited plans was a naked money grab.

Of course it was! Carriers, at least in the US are money grabbing scumbags. They absolutely rape everyone on data. its completely ridiculous. They're really no better than cable companies who do the same thing. They complain about their network capacity, and spew out BS that customers really don't need high-speed internet and nobody actually wants it. Nobody should be downloading more than X amount of data. Its to keep a balance so everyone has equal data, etc, etc. We've heard it all. 

Companies want to make money - outrageous!!1

MacPro

freshmaker said:

macxpress said:

larrya said:

Isn't it interesting.  Unlimited plans were taken away for claims of network capacity, yet even with the build-outs of the last few years I'll bet subscriptions and demand have increased more.  This change reinforces the idea that the demise of original unlimited plans was a naked money grab.

Of course it was! Carriers, at least in the US are money grabbing scumbags. They absolutely rape everyone on data. its completely ridiculous. They're really no better than cable companies who do the same thing. They complain about their network capacity, and spew out BS that customers really don't need high-speed internet and nobody actually wants it. Nobody should be downloading more than X amount of data. Its to keep a balance so everyone has equal data, etc, etc. We've heard it all. 

Companies want to make money - outrageous!!1

That's a valid comment in areas where fair competition and no cartel like operations exist.  There is simply insufficient competition in so many areas of the US IMHO and there certainly appears to be some sort of price collusion between the couple of providers where I live.  Remember many cellular plans are tied to internet plans too if only for simplicity by customers  

daven

Interesting. I used 23 GB data (22 down and 1 up) last month on my Charter connection which now costs just under $70 a month. If I switch my cell phone to Verizon and trim a little back on my data use which would be trimmed anyway by only streaming 720p, I'd be saving money and have one less bill to pay. I dropped cable tv two years ago. The gotcha is that I use very little cell phone data and tethering is limited after 10 GB.

That said, I do expect that in the next few years with 5G coming online that wireless companies will undercut cable companies just like the landline companies are withering.

blastdoor

MacPro said:

freshmaker said:

macxpress said:

larrya said:

Isn't it interesting.  Unlimited plans were taken away for claims of network capacity, yet even with the build-outs of the last few years I'll bet subscriptions and demand have increased more.  This change reinforces the idea that the demise of original unlimited plans was a naked money grab.

Of course it was! Carriers, at least in the US are money grabbing scumbags. They absolutely rape everyone on data. its completely ridiculous. They're really no better than cable companies who do the same thing. They complain about their network capacity, and spew out BS that customers really don't need high-speed internet and nobody actually wants it. Nobody should be downloading more than X amount of data. Its to keep a balance so everyone has equal data, etc, etc. We've heard it all. 

Companies want to make money - outrageous!!1

That's a valid comment in areas where fair competition and no cartel like operations exist.  There is simply insufficient competition in so many areas of the US IMHO and there certainly appears to be some sort of price collusion between the couple of providers where I live.  Remember many cellular plans are tied to internet plans too if only for simplicity by customers  

Yeah, people get confused about ends and means. 

The profit motive for firms isn't an ends unto itself, it is one means to the end of maximizing the long run expected well-being of society. At least that's the ends that matters to most people, and it's the reason that most people support the system. But if the system becomes increasingly skewed so that the profit motive isn't making society as a whole better off, and instead is just enriching a small group of oligarchs, then the profit motive will lose political support. And that would be a shame, because it is a powerful tool -- when used in combination with other tools that mitigate the downsides of the profit motive. 

daven

I did get a laugh out of the video announcement. The beginning started like a Tim Cook parody. Do these guys, including Cook, ever say anything original? 'We've worked tirelessly, blah, blah, blah"

mrboba1

AppleInsider said:

The first line costs $80 per month, with additional lines added for $45 per month.

Huh?

I went to the site and for 4 lines, it works out to $45/ line. Something's not right in what you wrote.

retrogusto

Interesting timing, given that AT&T recently announced that they are raising the price of the grandfathered unlimited plans again, by $5/month. I wonder if they're wishing that they could retract that announcement.

tallest skil

MacPro said:

once net neutrality is a fond memory.

What, you mean right now? You realize the law they passed is the exact opposite of what neutrality is, right?

MacPro

blastdoor said:

MacPro said:

freshmaker said:

macxpress said:

larrya said:

Isn't it interesting.  Unlimited plans were taken away for claims of network capacity, yet even with the build-outs of the last few years I'll bet subscriptions and demand have increased more.  This change reinforces the idea that the demise of original unlimited plans was a naked money grab.

Of course it was! Carriers, at least in the US are money grabbing scumbags. They absolutely rape everyone on data. its completely ridiculous. They're really no better than cable companies who do the same thing. They complain about their network capacity, and spew out BS that customers really don't need high-speed internet and nobody actually wants it. Nobody should be downloading more than X amount of data. Its to keep a balance so everyone has equal data, etc, etc. We've heard it all. 

Companies want to make money - outrageous!!1

That's a valid comment in areas where fair competition and no cartel like operations exist.  There is simply insufficient competition in so many areas of the US IMHO and there certainly appears to be some sort of price collusion between the couple of providers where I live.  Remember many cellular plans are tied to internet plans too if only for simplicity by customers  

Yeah, people get confused about ends and means. 

The profit motive for firms isn't an ends unto itself, it is one means to the end of maximizing the long run expected well-being of society. At least that's the ends that matters to most people, and it's the reason that most people support the system. But if the system becomes increasingly skewed so that the profit motive isn't making society as a whole better off, and instead is just enriching a small group of oligarchs, then the profit motive will lose political support. And that would be a shame, because it is a powerful tool -- when used in combination with other tools that mitigate the downsides of the profit motive. 

Excellent summary.  I totally agree.

MacPro

tallest skil said:

MacPro said:

once net neutrality is a fond memory.

What, you mean right now? You realize the law they passed is the exact opposite of what neutrality is, right?

I'm not into semantics sorry if I wasn't clear, I'm referring to the current state principle (or was last time I watched the news, it may well have changed already)  that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites as opposed to recent appointments obviously intended to reverse this or so it seems from where sit.

macxpress

freshmaker said:

macxpress said:

larrya said:

Isn't it interesting.  Unlimited plans were taken away for claims of network capacity, yet even with the build-outs of the last few years I'll bet subscriptions and demand have increased more.  This change reinforces the idea that the demise of original unlimited plans was a naked money grab.

Of course it was! Carriers, at least in the US are money grabbing scumbags. They absolutely rape everyone on data. its completely ridiculous. They're really no better than cable companies who do the same thing. They complain about their network capacity, and spew out BS that customers really don't need high-speed internet and nobody actually wants it. Nobody should be downloading more than X amount of data. Its to keep a balance so everyone has equal data, etc, etc. We've heard it all. 

Companies want to make money - outrageous!!1

Oh BS! These companies are making more than their share of money and they're not putting it back into their company. They're sitting here bullshitting everyone saying their network can't handle the loads so they have to throttle people and keep data caps, etc. Its all BS! This article proves my point. 

If you were paying $80/month for 2Mbps internet with a 5GB data cap I bet you wouldn't be saying Oh companies want to make money...outrageous!!! These companies know damn well people want smartphones that will require a data plan to function properly so they think they can charge whatever they want because people will just pay it. I mean they gotta have access to FaceBook on their phone! 

YP101

Any company works tirelessly to find out what is optimum amount they can collect from their customer until they piss off and leaving.
You don't like it then use other service. AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and other prepaid services are available.

Unlimited Single line pay $80 but family share plan is $110(it can connect up to 10 devices.)
I think single line is pointless. If you can get family share plan then this is more make sense. $110 + each smart phone for $20.

All telemcom figure out as they can handle up to 20-22GB per month for each subscriber.(Of course dense population will bottle neck effect anyway)
So they kill initial unlimited plan without no throttle point and create new unlimited plan with 22GB cap.

An long as each of your family members not use 22GB per month then you are getting bang for the buck.

I have 10GB+2GB(free) for $80+4 line+fee & tax other bs=around $181 per month.. new unlimited plan, $180($10 discount for autopay and paperless billing)+fee,tax = around $200 I guess.(12GB plan is around $45 per person compare to around $50 per person for unlimited.. $5 per month I think I can manage for worry free data over usage.)
When my 2 year contract is over, I might change to unlimited plan.