The End of Unlimited Data Plans?

[R1Lover]

I use less then 5gb and would love a price break because of it.. I'll let you guy streaming all day long pay for the 4G network lmao

[Vulcan1600]

I think you got your dates wrong, if he got a phone on 3/1/2010 with a 2 yr contract it would be up on 3/1/2012. But none the less if verizon does something to alter the plan you signed then that is a way out. Just like when I signed up with Alltel years ago, and I got a new phone with a 2 yr agreement, when they switch to Verizon, they gave me the option to get out of that agreement early.

Bingo, that is right...Verizon is not going to care if the phone works or not, in fact they would not even know because I be calling it in and saying I want out do to YOU breaking my contract with the new data requirements. The article said Verizon customers would be able to break their contracts if a change is made. When they break a contract you get to keep the phone...so whether it was damaged or not really does not matter to them.

So it provides a way out....

I'm having a hard time understanding what you are saying. But, bottom line is, lets wait and see what the heck happens, if it happens.

[hookbill]

This talk about getting rid of unlimited has been going on for over a year and a half. I'll believe it when I see it. This is nothing new.

[iPirate]

I use less then 5gb and would love a price break because of it.. I'll let you guy streaming all day long pay for the 4G network lmao

Just wait till you download one extra website and have to pay the next level an additional $10. Not to mention worrying about how much you download constantly...

[TBV]

modette[/LEFT];301145]
Bingo, that is right...Verizon is not going to care if the phone works or not, in fact they would not even know because I be calling it in and saying I want out do to YOU breaking my contract with the new data requirements. The article said Verizon customers would be able to break their contracts if a change is made. When they break a contract you get to keep the phone...so whether it was damaged or not really does not matter to them.

So it provides a way out....

Just because that's what the article said doesn't make it accurate...

If VZ is to adopt the usage changes being discussed, your existing contract would stay exactly as it is until you upgrade and/or are changing to equipment that requires that it do so under the new restrictions. That's what the term 'grandfathered in' means, there will be no change to your existing agreement unless you choose to activate a different device on the line that requires activation under new terms or renew your contract with a device that can only be activated under new terms.

If you have lost, destroyed, or had your phone stolen and it was not insured, and you have no old phones to activate or otherwise provide your own equipment that adheres to your existing plan, VZ does not have to let you out of your contract because there are now new plans in place with different restrictions and the only way for you to activate a phone is for you to buy a new one (which will renew you contract unless you buy the device full retail...but even then, there are times when a device can only be activated on certain plans or with certain features).

From 1st hand experience in the stores I have seen it happen...for example, a customer has one of the old broadband cards that have unlimited data... they want to upgrade and we let them know that the new devices have a 5G max before we process the transaction...if they demand that they have unlimited data as has been the case with their existing device, they must keep the device they currently have or get a 'same as' replacement if the item was broken, lost or stolen.

So with all that being said, when time for an upgrade (unless it is an early upgrade in a two year contract), you are either on a month-to-month basis or no more than four months from the end of your contract...therefore, if you do not want to go into a new contract that has a

gb

limit tied to the device you desire, you can take your wireless business elsewhere once the contract has ended...however, it has been my experience that once the big carriers make a change such as what is being discussed, it becomes the norm of the industry...we shall see.

[Riddick]

Utterly ridiculous and just another method for the telco's to scam us like they currently do with text messages. The ONLY way this would be reasonable would be if "ligh" users" could get substantially cheaper plans (~10$ a month), normal users paid what they pay now (30$), and super heavy users who used tethering and downloaded hundreds of gigs a month off torrents were the only people really affected. But we all know that's not how it will work, they're going to try and use this to gauge us.

What's sad is that there is no true competition in the industry, the biggest telephone companies will simply do this at the same time like they did with the text messaging rates and people wont have any choice but to comply.

[lschicky]

I wonder what the FCC is going to say about this, I know they have been watching AT&T and their data transfer issues. It's something we have to be very vocal to companies & the FCC to.

[MNTNBKR]

My bet is that by the time anything like this goes into effect, we'll be hard pressed to find a spot that's not covered by free wi-fi...making the whole argument pretty pointless.

[kaboyd]

Things like this make me so angry I can't stand it. Just another scumbag company trying to squeeze normal hardworking people for every last buck. It really kind of makes me sick. And this is coming from someone who can afford it. It aggravates me to no end. Is my *97* dollar phone bill, AFTER a 22% discount, not enough? Really? Really?

But part of me wants to say that it may be too late for this to happen. People will lose their minds. I just don't see them getting away from all the backlash. I know for a fact I would call them and say "I have my cable, internet, home phone, and cell phone through your company. If you dare change my bill, I'll cancel every single service." I guarantee I'll get a response out of them then.

The only problem there is I'd have to goto Comcast. Ugh.

Sigh. these things really do make me too angry. I started thinking that if they did do this, we should set up a day where we can all turn on Pandora at the same time to boycott.

-Wil

+1 I will be outraged if I have to dump a penny more into a cell phone company for the service I'm currently getting. I use around 5gb of data per month without streaming Pandora. I can imagine it will be much higher if I stream music. This is my first smartphone, and I'm hooked. I just hope to keep using it wherever I want, not just where i can get a wifi signal.

[orangepeel]

I don't think Verizon will do this at this time,but I said that very same thing when I had a an "unlimited"data card. Guess what they did? They went to a 5 gig limit and threw me off the network for not keeping under their new terms of service even though that is not what I signed up for. You won't believe this but when Verizon terminated my aircard account they acted like they where doing me a favor by not making me pay the ETF fee because my contract was not quite up!As for the contract we signed, they have the right to change the TOS ANYTIME they like. In the fine print of the contract they have the right to change the terms of service.

If anyone doesn't believe me,just search for EVDO forums and go into the Verizon/Sprint terms of service forum and see what they did to people under the "unlimited" plan they had signed up for years ago.

Another thing they (Verizon) will do if they do go to a cap,or price increase is start making new customers,or people out of contract to sign up for the new data cap contract. Oh yeah,they will also try to trick you into the new contract by offering you really good deals on the latest phone/datacard to get you to sign up for a new contract. The may even lie to you and tell you that you will stay under the old contract,only to find out that once you swapped devices that you aren't under the old contract. If the CS rep lies to you and you don't have it recorded you are crap out of luck.

As for the "free phone" deal,yes you will probably get the free phone because they probably will not implement this on "grandfathered" in contracts until they are up,which by that time your phone will have already been paid for anyway.

I'm not saying any of this is going to happen,but I wouldn't put it past any of the "big 3" doing something like this....if anyone has ever had a data card then you would know how they will give you the shaft. The cell phone companies are powerful,and have FAR more rights than the consumer.