Verizon Is Killing Subsidized Phones and Long-Term Contracts
Began to instinctively answer “I need a new phone” to “Well, when does your contract expire?” for the majority of people. However, this is where Verizon comes to an end. The company will no longer offer their typical two-year contracts or the discount phones that come with them.
Under the old plans, you could get a new phone at a discounted price, provided you commit to stay with your carrier for two years. Now, however, if you need a new phone, you either need to buy it right away or sign up for a monthly payment plan. While this is generally good news (once you pay for your phone, your bill goes down), it could affect the way some people currently buy their phones.
In addition to changes in the way it subsidizes phones, Verizon is also moving to a data bucket model for phone lines. Instead of subscribing to individual or family lines, you will be charged for a shared block of data. These buckets come in the following sizes and prices:
- Small: $ 30 / month for 1GB
- Medium: $ 45 / month for 3GB
- Large: $ 60 / month for 6GB
- X-Large: $ 80 / month for 12GB
And yes, that’s what Verizon calls each level. This pool of data is shared across all devices in your plan. Of course, this is a payment for the data itself. You also have to pay a commission to add a line to each plan. There is no difference between the prices for an individual or family plan, but the cost of each device goes up. The cost of each type of device is as follows:
- $ 20 for a smartphone.
- $ 10 per pill.
- $ 5 for a smartwatch.
Keep in mind that these fees are added to any monthly payment plans for your device. This fee can vary depending on the device, but it often ranges from $ 15 to $ 25 or so, depending on the cost of the phone. So, for example, one phone line with 3 GB of data will cost about $ 85 per month ($ 45 for 3 GB of data, $ 20 for access, $ 20 for a phone). A plan with two phones on the data plan and 6GB will start at around $ 140 ($ 60 for 6GB of data, $ 40 for access, $ 40 for phones).
Since the data plans themselves operate on a monthly basis, you can upgrade or downgrade your data segments every month. However, as Recode points out , going over the data limit will cost you $ 15 per gigabyte . Considering that updating the data segment itself (excluding the 12GB tier) costs the same and gives you more data for the money, it comes at a higher cost than just paying more in advance. A fact that Verizon knows for sure.
Verizon abandons contracts | Facets