[Macworld]

Post your comments for Verizon to start offering shared data plans on June 28 here

[UU_evangelist]

I just tried the Verizon online data calculator, choosing the lowest available usage amounts in each category, using two smart phones and two tablets, and they recommended the 8GB data and unlimited talk & text category for $190 per month!

I currently pay about $115/mo for two iPhones with 300 MB plans each, and a no-contract $20/mo for one iPad based on 1 GB of usage. I never come close to any of those limits. I could add another $20 monthly contract for my wife's iPad and still be at only $155/mo.

Watch out for that calculator!

This post has been edited by UU_evangelist: 12 June 2012 - 11:08 AM

[swinn]

Well, I'm totally underwhelmed by their pricing. I thought this was supposed to SAVE people money.

[Newton1021]

with the current family plan it is $70/2lines + $10/addition phone + $30 for unlimited family texting + $30 for 2 GB of data. So if I have two smart phones and two basic phones it should cost me: 70 + 20 + 30 + 60 = $180 which gives me 4GB of data on two phones.

The new share plan would cost 80(2 smartphones) + 60 (2 basic phones) + 70 (4 GB) = $210 /month.

So why would I want to use this share plan? Even if I drop to 2GB shared data it would still be $200/month. So I would be giving Verizon $20-$30 a month + tax for no added benefit.

So are they going to stop offering there current family plan?

[Raymondo17]

I'm trying to see how this makes any sense. I currently pay $30 for data and my wife has a "basic" phone. But if we get her an iPhone and share a pool of data, we'd both pay a $40 access fee? How is this an advantage?

[zarmanto]

swinn, on 12 June 2012 - 11:45 AM, said:

Well, I'm totally underwhelmed by their pricing. I thought this was supposed to SAVE people money.

<snark>
Clearly, you have entirely misinterpreted Verizon's objectives, here. It should be obvious to any sociopath that the objective is to maximize revenue streams and minimize costs, while at the same time fooling the customer into thinking that they're somehow going to get a better deal -- but you only need to fool them just long enough to get them into an ironclad contract. Once they're stuck in that contract, it doesn't matter if they figure out they've been duped or not!
</snark>

This post has been edited by zarmanto: 12 June 2012 - 12:03 PM

[dbutenhof]

zarmanto, on 12 June 2012 - 12:02 PM, said:

swinn, on 12 June 2012 - 11:45 AM, said:

Well, I'm totally underwhelmed by their pricing. I thought this was supposed to SAVE people money.

<snark>
Clearly, you have entirely misinterpreted Verizon's objectives, here. It should be obvious to any sociopath that the objective is to maximize revenue streams and minimize costs, while at the same time fooling the customer into thinking that they're somehow going to get a better deal -- but you only need to fool them just long enough to get them into an ironclad contract. Once they're stuck in that contract, it doesn't matter if they figure out they've been duped or not!
</snark>

You made one major factual error in this reply. Inserting the "<snark>" tags suggests that your explanation was in some sense satirical rather than a direct excerpt from Verizon's board room report on this subject.

Honestly, I've been waiting years for Verizon to announce a shared data plan, and my first reaction on seeing the title of this article was that it was time to upgrade my wife to an iPhone when her 2 years is up in August. I should have known it wouldn't be worth waiting for; and I'm sure AT&T's will be just as bad. The $40 per line isn't so bad: right now I pay $9.99 per line plus $29.99 for my grandfathered unlimited data; so they're ripping me off for $0.02 -- if you ignore the fact that I'm giving up the potential of unlimited data.

By their calculator, my current setup (2 iPhones and 2 feature phones) with 6 Gb data & "5000+ text messages" would runs $220... just about $17 more than I'm paying now. Which doesn't sound so good; although 6Gb is certainly enough, and even my two teens don't (quite) exchange 5000 text messages a month. But now, switching both of those feature phones to iPhones bumps me to just $250; which is a bit less than I'd be paying if I just added two data lines at my current $29.99 rate to the plan. So, ultimately, this change might be slightly to my benefit; although that $10 I'd save isn't exactly enough to make me jump for joy or sing the praises of beneficent Verizon, it's not necessarily a total ripoff. Depending on how you use it.

This post has been edited by dbutenhof: 12 June 2012 - 12:46 PM

[TylerSchmaltz]

With all the negative comments and such can someone tell me what i am missing? My wife and I have 2 iphone 4's with unlimited data and text and 700 minutes. The bill every month with taxes is 189 bucks. We never come close to breaking over 2 gigs a month. So with these new shared plans and 4 gigs of data it would cost me 150 before taxes and i would get free tethering so i could use my wifi only ipad too. So i would save money?

[zarmanto]

Okay... I'm past the snark: It's time for some serious analysis from a current customer. My wife and I are on one of their grandfathered unlimited accounts with two iPhones, and I just looked at my bills for the past year to get an idea of how the new pricing would compare to my current pricing; I was rather amused by the results. If I went with the absolute minimum recommended by their calculator, (which is 4GB) then the price would come out to almost exactly match my current plan price -- except that we'd gain a data cap. So what does the impact of that data cap mean?

Well, the vast majority of my bills show between 2GB and 3GB of total shared data usage, and I've never had to pay an overage fee for any of my services. (voice minutes is our only cap, and we never come anywhere close to hitting that). There is one low outlier month with only 1GB of usage and then there are two high outlier months with over 10GB of shared usage each. (Interestingly the root cause in one of those months was a connectivity issue on my Verizon FiOS connection, resulting in heavier reliance on the iPhones.) Those two excessive usage months would no doubt have been very painful, if I had been paying on these newly proposed plans.

So the answer to the question is: that data cap gives me the chance to enjoy one of two things: either occasional data overage charges at astonishingly high rates, or sudden lock-out of data usage on our phones. That's it. No price break. No additional features (that I would actually use.) No additional peace of mind. In fact, the only "good" thing that I can say it gives me, is a stronger case for my previously tentative plans to jump carriers again, once my contract ends.

I get that they're just an emotionless corporate entity trying to squeeze as much profit as possible out of their customers, but seriously... which is worth more to them: having more available data bandwidth for their customers, or having customers???

[baileyboytom]

TylerSchmaltz . . .

It's not that you will save money on this new share plan from what you have been paying, its that you have been ripped off for the plan you have had all along! A 700 plan with Verizon for 2 smart phones is $140. (That's $70 for the first phone, $10 for the second, =$80 and $30 for each data package, =$60). That equals $140 (compared to $150 on the new share plan, = no savings).

Why you paid $189 all these months, means either there is something else you neglected to factor in, or you've been ripped off all these months!

Tom

[TylerSchmaltz]

baileyboytom, on 12 June 2012 - 12:59 PM, said:

TylerSchmaltz . . .

It's not that you will save money on this new share plan from what you have been paying, its that you have been ripped off for the plan you have had all along! A 700 plan with Verizon for 2 smart phones is $140. (That's $70 for the first phone, $10 for the second, =$80 and $30 for each data package, =$60). That equals $140 (compared to $150 on the new share plan, = no savings).

Why you paid $189 all these months, means either there is something else you neglected to factor in, or you've been ripped off all these months!

Tom

We pay $80 for nationwide talk/txt 700 minute plan. 30 for data each. Plus each line has a line access charge of $10 dollars. Then about 9 each in taxes and fees. Hmm

[myramoki]

Likewise I was very excited to FINALLY see somebody do a shared data plan, as it seems obvious but the reality is something less exciting. And really, I can't necessarily blame Verizon, they are after all a carrier, and all carriers are inherently evil. I think its in their charter. That I thought they'd not be was my bad.

Paying an 'access fee' for my phone, I can tolerate, as its not necessarily strictly about data usage, but also includes voice and messaging, although it really is just all data, one way or the other. But I really was hoping that for my iPad, that I could just enable it when I need to and share the same block of data. That I have to pay an access fee for it also really bites. No idea if we'll be able to enable / disable tablets & laptops from the plan when we find that we need to travel and access the network, as I can do with my iPad right now.

It will be interesting to see how AT&T counters this move, but this is definitely making me think about pay-as-you-go as a more compelling alternative to the current contract model I'm signed up for.

[len5]

Verizon is giving the shaft to non family customers.
Right now I've got a BB9330, $39/month 450min, $5/month text and 300MB/month. With tax I pay about $68. And I don't come anywhere near limits on any of these.
On the "new" plan I would pay over $100/month not including taxes.
How am I better off Verizon???

[Petew]

"Well, I'm totally underwhelmed by their pricing. I thought this was supposed to SAVE people money."

No, no, no, it's supposed to make Verizon more money. They are a business, not your sugar daddy ;-)