Verizon to hike prices, but boost data caps & perks to match competition

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in iPhone
Verizon will soon raise the prices on all of its standard plans, but with the tradeoff of higher data caps and various other perks, according to a report.




The carrier's "S" plan will jump $5 to $35 per month, but double data from 1 to 2 gigabytes, a CNET source explained. The "M" plan's cost should rise by the same amount to $50, growing data from 3 to 4 gigabytes.

Price hikes will allegedly be more severe on upper tiers, beginning with the "L" plan costing $10 more per month at $70, with data increased from 6 to 8 gigabytes. The "XL" option will go up $10 to $90, seeing data improved from 12 gigabytes to 16.

The top-end "XXL" plan will likewise increase by $10 to $110, but come with 24 gigabytes of data versus 18.

On top of better caps, Verizon is expected to launch "Carryover Data," finally allowing customers to rollover unused data to following months. AT&T and T-Mobile have had similar plans in place for well over a year.

Subscribers to Verizon's XL and XXL plans should meanwhile get unlimited calls from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico, and the ability to use their normal plan limits when traveling to those countries. They will also have access to a "safety mode," which cuts out the chance of overage fees but with throttled data speeds once their monthly limit is hit.

People on plans below the XL threshold will supposedly have to pay $5 for safety mode, and may also be expected to pay for North American roaming benefits. Versions of both perks are included by default with T-Mobile's Simple Choice plans -- AT&T and Sprint have their own roaming benefits, but more restricted.

Existing Verizon customers will get to keep their current plans unless they choose to switch. It's not clear when the new tiers will launch, but Verizon has said it will make some form of announcement later this week.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    thedude1thedude1 Posts: 3member
    Still doesn't match T-Mobile's perks.
    lordjohnwhorfinjbdragonlatifbp
  • Reply 2 of 23
    staticx57staticx57 Posts: 405member
    thedude1 said:
    Still doesn't match T-Mobile's perks.
    It never will
    lordjohnwhorfinlatifbp
  • Reply 3 of 23
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    staticx57 said:
    thedude1 said:
    Still doesn't match T-Mobile's perks.
    It never will
    It doesn't have to resort to plots, and schemes to get customers. 
  • Reply 4 of 23
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    thedude1 said:
    Still doesn't match T-Mobile's perks.
    Some of the perks aren't as good as they are made out to be. The free international roaming is a joke. It's super slow because T-Mobile is throttling your speed. Even though it costs $2 to use, Verzion's offering is way better. You use your current data plan overseas with no limits on speed. 
  • Reply 5 of 23
    VisualSeedVisualSeed Posts: 217member
    thedude1 said:
    Still doesn't match T-Mobile's perks.
    Some of the perks aren't as good as they are made out to be. The free international roaming is a joke. It's super slow because T-Mobile is throttling your speed. Even though it costs $2 to use, Verzion's offering is way better. You use your current data plan overseas with no limits on speed. 
    I use it extensively and while it's kind of slow it is still usable and has saved me tons over using international roaming on AT&T or buying a local sim. For the summer in Europe, right now I'm enjoying full LTE speeds, so it's not all that bad.
    lordjohnwhorfinjbdragonwaverboydementuschikanstantheman
  • Reply 6 of 23
    titantigertitantiger Posts: 300member
    Verizon is of the opinion that because their network is so much better, they don't have to make cost concessions. And for some they may be right. But for a lot of people who don't really go much into rural areas, one or more of the other major carriers would serve them just as well with no noticeable difference in coverage or data speeds. I like Verizon, but I will definitely be taking a closer look at TMobile in December when my contract is up. TMo has built up our area quite a bit and knowledgeable people I know who live here have been very happy with them.
    latifbp
  • Reply 7 of 23
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    I have almost 13 gigs of role over data from t-mobile!!. I use so little data these days.  Well I'm always music streaming but that doesn't count against data use.  A number of places for videos is now the same way.  It's getting harder to use the data in paying door so it's adding up.  I don't just lose it like on the other service. 


    dementuschikan
  • Reply 8 of 23
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Some of the perks aren't as good as they are made out to be. The free international roaming is a joke. It's super slow because T-Mobile is throttling your speed. Even though it costs $2 to use, Verzion's offering is way better. You use your current data plan overseas with no limits on speed. 
    I use it extensively and while it's kind of slow it is still usable and has saved me tons over using international roaming on AT&T or buying a local sim. For the summer in Europe, right now I'm enjoying full LTE speeds, so it's not all that bad.
    I went to Europe with a friend a few months ago. I'm on Verizon and she's on T-Mobile. Her phone was painfully slow compared to Verizon. I was wondering why it was so slow since she was on the same LTE network as me. I read the fine print and never knew T-Mobile throttles your speed when you are using your phone overseas. Verizon doesn't do that. I do like what T-Mobile has done for the industry though. Without the consumer friendly things they are doing, no way would Verizon even be offering to use your current data plan overseas with no international roaming charges. You are in Europe at the right time since T-Mobile is only doing the LTE speeds this month. 
    stantheman
  • Reply 9 of 23
    waverboywaverboy Posts: 106member
    I'm in Alberta Canada right now and I'm getting LTE speeds on T-Mobile; I'm on their Unlimited Everything plan.
  • Reply 10 of 23
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    waverboy said:
    I'm in Alberta Canada right now and I'm getting LTE speeds on T-Mobile; I'm on their Unlimited Everything plan.
    Canada and Mexico speeds aren't throttled. They are when travelling to other countries. 
  • Reply 11 of 23
    Some of the perks aren't as good as they are made out to be. The free international roaming is a joke. It's super slow because T-Mobile is throttling your speed. Even though it costs $2 to use, Verzion's offering is way better. You use your current data plan overseas with no limits on speed. 
    I use it extensively and while it's kind of slow it is still usable and has saved me tons over using international roaming on AT&T or buying a local sim. For the summer in Europe, right now I'm enjoying full LTE speeds, so it's not all that bad.
    VisualSeed, are you saying you "extensively" used Verizon, or T-Mobile, instead of AT&T? 
    edited July 2016
  • Reply 12 of 23
    I use it extensively and while it's kind of slow it is still usable and has saved me tons over using international roaming on AT&T or buying a local sim. For the summer in Europe, right now I'm enjoying full LTE speeds, so it's not all that bad.
    I went to Europe with a friend a few months ago. I'm on Verizon and she's on T-Mobile. Her phone was painfully slow compared to Verizon. I was wondering why it was so slow since she was on the same LTE network as me. I read the fine print and never knew T-Mobile throttles your speed when you are using your phone overseas. Verizon doesn't do that. I do like what T-Mobile has done for the industry though.
    Reading up on this, it looks like T-Mobile, by default, gives free (and unlimited) data/texts to its customers that travel to Europe.  To your point, data is throttled to 128kbps.  But then again, it's free... and unlimited.  If you need faster data, they do sell an add-on that you can put on your plan.  That's not unlimited.  

    Looks like Verizon charges $10/day for people to use their normal voice/data/text plan while in Europe.  The $2/day mentioned a few posts up seems to only cover Canada and Mexico.  But you get full data speeds and voice.

    Both offerings have their merits, IMO, and are a lottttttttt better than what was offered just a few years ago!
    edited July 2016
  • Reply 13 of 23
    $10 a day? That's usually how much I pay per month to stay connected when I travel. No wonder Verizon is filthy rich - they take their users for suckers. When I travel, I just pick up a local SIM and I am good to go.
  • Reply 14 of 23
    peteopeteo Posts: 402member
    Remember when plans had unlimited data? Remember when all the cell providers insisted they must do away will unlimited plans even while upgrading to LTE witch cuts network bandwidth and improves speed to the point where most people are downloading data 1/10 less of the time. It's worked great for them now the can force you to up your data by 1gb+ (which cost them about 1 penny) and charge you 5-10 more a month. Yeah see how they do that, it's +$60-$120 more a year but no one notices when it's $5-$10 a month.
    These companies are some of the scummiest on the planet but most of us are to sucked in to do anything about. And there's no help from anywhere even the FCC is pretty much powerless against them.  I guess we dug our own grave and we are left with the consequences 
  • Reply 15 of 23
    sergiozsergioz Posts: 338member
    Have you heard about Straight Talk almighty powerful subsidised wireless provider that leases Verizon AT&T and Sprint towers? $45 gets you 5GB & $55 gets you 10GB if you on Verizon and paying $10 for each GB I feel sorry for ya! Just bring you phone over and we'll hook you up!
  • Reply 16 of 23
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    sergioz said:
    Have you heard about Straight Talk almighty powerful subsidised wireless provider that leases Verizon AT&T and Sprint towers? $45 gets you 5GB & $55 gets you 10GB if you on Verizon and paying $10 for each GB I feel sorry for ya! Just bring you phone over and we'll hook you up!
    You forget to tell people that they get low priority on those carriers cell sites, and we'll get kicked off to accommodate a post paid customer. 
  • Reply 17 of 23
    latifbplatifbp Posts: 544member
    Verizon is of the opinion that because their network is so much better, they don't have to make cost concessions. And for some they may be right. But for a lot of people who don't really go much into rural areas, one or more of the other major carriers would serve them just as well with no noticeable difference in coverage or data speeds. I like Verizon, but I will definitely be taking a closer look at TMobile in December when my contract is up. TMo has built up our area quite a bit and knowledgeable people I know who live here have been very happy with them.
    I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. So glad I did. In the Boston area their network far outperforms Verizon; much faster and more consistent coverage here. Driving out of town on a longer road trip id give the edge to Verizon, but I get more than enough coverage on the same said road trip with T-Mobile. Not enough of a difference for me to stay with Verizon.
  • Reply 18 of 23
    sergiozsergioz Posts: 338member
    sergioz said:
    Have you heard about Straight Talk almighty powerful subsidised wireless provider that leases Verizon AT&T and Sprint towers? $45 gets you 5GB & $55 gets you 10GB if you on Verizon and paying $10 for each GB I feel sorry for ya! Just bring you phone over and we'll hook you up!
    You forget to tell people that they get low priority on those carriers cell sites, and we'll get kicked off to accommodate a post paid customer. 
    That is simply not true! Look up NVNO! I have been on Straight Talk since iPhone 4 never had a problem! 
  • Reply 19 of 23
    sandorsandor Posts: 655member
    thedude1 said:
    Still doesn't match T-Mobile's perks.
    ...The free international roaming is a joke. It's super slow because T-Mobile is throttling your speed...
    having used it now in the Netherlands, England, Scotland & Canada (this was before TMobile created their inclusive North America coverage), i cannot imagine being without it. 

    Certainly it is speed restricted, but to call it a joke is farcical. It was simple, easy & highly beneficial. They are completely clear of the 2G speed limits, and i think it is a good tradeoff for the ease of use. I always had the option to  pay for 4G, but never needed it.

    I switched from ATT a year ago - went from 4 lines for $270 to 4 lines for $129.
    Over $1600 savings in the first year.
    And we have had the same phones since the 5c & 5s were newly released.

    The prices charged by ATT & Verizon are highway robbery.
    edited July 2016
  • Reply 20 of 23
    sergioz said:
    You forget to tell people that they get low priority on those carriers cell sites, and we'll get kicked off to accommodate a post paid customer. 
    That is simply not true! Look up NVNO! I have been on Straight Talk since iPhone 4 never had a problem! 
    Lots of people have looked this up, and I haven't seen where anyone has found any definitive information, one way or the other.  MVNO contract terms with carriers seem to be pretty private.  :)

    But to me, it's hard to believe that any of the Big Four wireless carriers wouldn't de-prioritize MVNO customer traffic in situations where a tower has hit capacity, giving the Big Four (i.e. full-price) customers first dibs at the resources.

    I'm guessing, at least with Verizon, they don't have many towers that ever hit capacity.  IIRC, Verizon's ToS for unlimited data was that it gets throttled (after a certain point) on towers that were at capacity, and it seems like nobody every experienced that.
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