[Update] Verizon's New Family Data Plans Begin: It's Called the Share Everything Plan

[syndicate0017]

Yeah... I respected your decision and hope there are more people like you and peredroid that then should convince Verizon to change their mind.

Let me ask you this. You are out of Verizon base on your personal belief, but there are no regulations to stop something like this to be copied by your future telco carrier. You can end up paying more and more with less value.

Honestly, there's nothing stopping my future carrier from doing the same. However, I won't be signing a two year contract. I'm buying my GSM phone outright and will go to T-Mobile prepaid $30/mo plan (Unlimited data {5GB unthrottled}, unlimited texts, and 100 minutes). If T Mobile starts getting Verizon-esque, I'll just hop to a new carrier. Until more people stop signing these 2 year agreements and forcing carriers to actually compete, more of this will come. This was the wake-up call I needed. I will never sign a mobile contract again.

 

[FoxKat]

I saw that too. Verizon originally said unlimited users would be grandfathered (even through upgrades) forever. I'm telling you, in two years tops, you won't even be able keep unlimited by buying outright. That's why I'm getting out now.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

You know, there's a lot of reason to believe this and I half do, but the other half says that with the exponentially increasing amounts of data we deal with every day, and with the incredibly fast and immediately available functions of these and future phone/PDA devices, there will come a time when the amount of data traversing through the wires or fibers will be less important for the ISPs, and just having the regular monthly incomes of "plans" will be more important. So, a part of me wants to believe it can't go the way of the Dodo Bird, but all you have to do is look at everything else we subscribe to as a service or utility and you quickly realize you're probably right.

Electricity - paid for per Kilowatt Hour
Water - per Hundred or Thousand Gallons
Natural or Propane Gas - per Hundred Cubic Feet
Gasoline - per Gallon
Diesel Fuel - per Gallon
Kerosene - per Gallon
Heating Oil - per Gallon
Sewer (at least for us) per Hundred Gallons of Water used in the home

Really, if you think about it, charging on a per unit of consumption basis is the only FAIR way to do it, since the heavy users pay the price, and the light users pay less.

About the only things I can think of that don't limit you per any amount of use are:

Cable TV - Basic service - unlimited
Cable TV - per Premium Channel or On Demand Movie purchase (exception to the rule)
Landline Telephone - Basic service - unlimited
Landline Telephone - Long Distance or International on a per Minute basis plus surcharges (exception to the rule)

 

[JRParsons]

Indefinitely, until definitely.

Or not definitive. If I'm not mistaken, when someone is suspended from something indefinitely, it means until the governing body feels the suspension should be lifted. Many times it ends up being forever, but does not have to be. I don't recall the statement from VW but if they did use "indefinitely ", then they were saying they did not have a definitive time frame for when they were going to stop unlimited data plans. (it appears they do now)

 

[syndicate0017]

You know, there's a lot of reason to believe this and I half do, but the other half says that with the exponentially increasing amounts of data we deal with every day, and with the incredibly fast and immediately available functions of these and future phone/PDA devices, there will come a time when the amount of data traversing through the wires or fibers will be less important for the ISPs, and just having the regular monthly incomes of "plans" will be more important. So, a part of me wants to believe it can't go the way of the Dodo Bird, but all you have to do is look at everything else we subscribe to as a service or utility and you quickly realize you're probably right.

Electricity - paid for per Kilowatt Hour
Water - per Hundred or Thousand Gallons
Natural or Propane Gas - per Hundred Cubic Feet
Gasoline - per Gallon
Diesel Fuel - per Gallon
Kerosene - per Gallon
Heating Oil - per Gallon
Sewer (at least for us) per Hundred Gallons of Water used in the home

Really, if you think about it, charging on a per unit of consumption basis is the only FAIR way to do it, since the heavy users pay the price, and the light users pay less.

About the only things I can think of that don't limit you per any amount of use are:

Cable TV - Basic service - unlimited
Cable TV - per Premium Channel or On Demand Movie purchase (exception to the rule)
Landline Telephone - Basic service - unlimited
Landline Telephone - Long Distance or International on a per Minute basis plus surcharges (exception to the rule)

Sure, I understand where you're coming from. But the cost/GB of data is insanely higher than all the other pay per usage rates you listed. And as smartphones advance, we are becoming able to do more things on them (thus using more data). Verizon also pre-loads most phones with heavy data consuming apps. That would kind of be like your water provider, cawlking parts of your pipes so you have to use more water to get the pressure you desire. Is it a perfect analogy? No, but I think it applies here somewhat. Like I mentioned above, until consumers start to take a stand and not just accept carriers terms regardless of what they are, we will continue to see astronomically high rates for data.

 

[revelated]

You know, there's a lot of reason to believe this and I half do, but the other half says that with the exponentially increasing amounts of data we deal with every day, and with the incredibly fast and immediately available functions of these and future phone/PDA devices, there will come a time when the amount of data traversing through the wires or fibers will be less important for the ISPs, and just having the regular monthly incomes of "plans" will be more important. So, a part of me wants to believe it can't go the way of the Dodo Bird, but all you have to do is look at everything else we subscribe to as a service or utility and you quickly realize you're probably right.

Electricity - paid for per Kilowatt Hour
Water - per Hundred or Thousand Gallons
Natural or Propane Gas - per Hundred Cubic Feet
Gasoline - per Gallon
Diesel Fuel - per Gallon
Kerosene - per Gallon
Heating Oil - per Gallon
Sewer (at least for us) per Hundred Gallons of Water used in the home

Really, if you think about it, charging on a per unit of consumption basis is the only FAIR way to do it, since the heavy users pay the price, and the light users pay less.

Which would make them a utility and thus regulated as such. They don't want that. I guarantee you they don't want that.

Electricity, for example, can only charge a certain rate. They can't just arbitrarily charge whatever they please. In some states, they can't sever service because you don't pay the bill.

The other thing to consider: utilities aren't subject to any competition. Your electric company is your electric company, period.

Additionally, if they were regulated, there'd be no more of this coverage discrimination that they do now, where prepaid users don't get the same coverage as postpaid users. All users would have to have the exact same coverage.

Finally, they would have to offer service for low income customers, as the utilities do.

...no, they don't want to be regulated.

 

[monkey_man]

You know, there's a lot of reason to believe this and I half do, but the other half says that with the exponentially increasing amounts of data we deal with every day, and with the incredibly fast and immediately available functions of these and future phone/PDA devices, there will come a time when the amount of data traversing through the wires or fibers will be less important for the ISPs, and just having the regular monthly incomes of "plans" will be more important. So, a part of me wants to believe it can't go the way of the Dodo Bird, but all you have to do is look at everything else we subscribe to as a service or utility and you quickly realize you're probably right.

Electricity - paid for per Kilowatt Hour
Water - per Hundred or Thousand Gallons
Natural or Propane Gas - per Hundred Cubic Feet
Gasoline - per Gallon
Diesel Fuel - per Gallon
Kerosene - per Gallon
Heating Oil - per Gallon
Sewer (at least for us) per Hundred Gallons of Water used in the home

Really, if you think about it, charging on a per unit of consumption basis is the only FAIR way to do it, since the heavy users pay the price, and the light users pay less.

About the only things I can think of that don't limit you per any amount of use are:

Cable TV - Basic service - unlimited
Cable TV - per Premium Channel or On Demand Movie purchase (exception to the rule)
Landline Telephone - Basic service - unlimited
Landline Telephone - Long Distance or International on a per Minute basis plus surcharges (exception to the rule)

All comes down to MONEY!!!!! Cable TV were the one that made Electricity surged up rapidly. Why should Cable TV get more money than Electricity?? Where without Electricity you can't have Cable TV. (Sounds similar to what we are dealing with Verizon and smartphones correct?) LandLines ISPs will never be obsolete, for people have the fear of radiation from these towers. The question will be ... How much money is much?

Which would make them a utility and thus regulated as such. They don't want that. I guarantee you they don't want that.

Electricity, for example, can only charge a certain rate. They can't just arbitrarily charge whatever they please. In some states, they can't sever service because you don't pay the bill.

The other thing to consider: utilities aren't subject to any competition. Your electric company is your electric company, period.

Additionally, if they were regulated, there'd be no more of this coverage discrimination that they do now, where prepaid users don't get the same coverage as postpaid users. All users would have to have the exact same coverage.

Finally, they would have to offer service for low income customers, as the utilities do.

...no, they don't want to be regulated.

In some countries, the Electric Company can charge whatever they please , because they are not getting part funded by the government (tax & exemptions).

I don't know about that bold part tho as in California there are two Electric companies (AFAIK). Edison and PG&E.

Coverage discrimination or price discrimination... All people think about money/value first.

 

[FoxKat]

Sure, I understand where you're coming from. But the cost/GB of data is insanely higher than all the other pay per usage rates you listed. And as smartphones advance, we are becoming able to do more things on them (thus using more data). Verizon also pre-loads most phones with heavy data consuming apps. That would kind of be like your water provider, cawlking parts of your pipes so you have to use more water to get the pressure you desire. Is it a perfect analogy? No, but I think it applies here somewhat. Like I mentioned above, until consumers start to take a stand and not just accept carriers terms regardless of what they are, we will continue to see astronomically high rates for data.

I agree 100% with that rebuttal. You hit the proverbial nail on the head. Which is exactly why I WANT to believe it isn't so. What MAY happen is a hybrid of both "unlimited" plans that are VERY EXPENSIVE, or banded (tiered) plans that are very economical but what has to happen first is exactly what hasn't happened yet...the cost per GB needs to come WAY DOWN. Like, perhaps it needs to move to cost per 10GB, or per 100GB, because we all know, it will get there eventually.

I have a 2TB hard drive in my home PC, and I remember the first "Laptop" I purchased back in 1991, a Behemoth, with a gigantic Lead-Acid battery on back, and it had a 20MB (yes, Megabyte) hard drive. I thought, "Wow, how could I EVER fill that thing up". 2 years later, I was upgraded to 40MB, and I thought, "Wow, I didn't think I'd get close to filling 20MB, but NOW, I'll never have to worry about filling this hard drive, it's twice the size". :rofl3:

My 2TB internal drive has 793GB used.

 

[monkey_man]

Corporations don't want to be regulated and get trapped into Anti-Trust. Apples Do not want to get regulated in their way dealing with E-books. The interesting part is that Apple would love to ban Samsung Galaxy to enter US. The most important thing is Majority rule... so better listen carefully to survive.

 

[FoxKat]

Which would make them a utility and thus regulated as such. They don't want that. I guarantee you they don't want that.

Electricity, for example, can only charge a certain rate. They can't just arbitrarily charge whatever they please. In some states, they can't sever service because you don't pay the bill.

The other thing to consider: utilities aren't subject to any competition. Your electric company is your electric company, period.

Additionally, if they were regulated, there'd be no more of this coverage discrimination that they do now, where prepaid users don't get the same coverage as postpaid users. All users would have to have the exact same coverage.

Finally, they would have to offer service for low income customers, as the utilities do.

...no, they don't want to be regulated.

No disagreement here. Still, not everything we pay for on a per-unit basis is considered a Utility, and isn't regulated, therefore it's a question of whether it's regulated or not first, then a question of whether or not it still wants to self-regulate. Food, clothing, shelter, really just about everything we use is paid for in one way or another on a per-unit basis.

 

[FoxKat]

Corporations don't want to be regulated and get trapped into Anti-Trust. Apples Do not want to get regulated in their way dealing with E-books. The interesting part is that Apple would love to ban Samsung Galaxy to enter US. The most important thing is Majority rule... so better listen carefully to survive.

So true, but I have a sneaking suspicion that eventually internet access WILL be regulated. The Government has been itching to get their hands on it since they realized it was a cash cow, and they'll eventually manage to narrow the pathways it travels down, and route it into dead-end streets until it has to succumb to the death grip.

 

[monkey_man]

So true, but I have a sneaking suspicion that eventually internet access WILL be regulated. The Government has been itching to get their hands on it since they realized it was a cash cow, and they'll eventually manage to narrow the pathways it travels down, and route it into dead-end streets until it has to succumb to the death grip.

China are doing this... I don't think we are going this path.... (fear mongering works tho :happy3. I don't want this type of regulation where our privacy are then compromised. I want price regulation where ISP can not succumb to third party and limit the way users use. This is so close to partial censorship. I do understand that Verizon's infrastructures are limited and can't fathom repairs/upgrades on their own. I believe those companies that rely on such technology to chip in (voluntarily of course like me for an example using 1-3GB/month even though I know that I'm getting unlimited). As much as I hate it being a seller on ebay using paypal, but due to convenience, I agreed to their terms. Here is an example of what I meant. You said 2TB was plenty. I say 2 TB is tiny. Why? I have to share it to 10+people. How to solve such infrastructure limitation dilemma? We all chip in and paid for a very large central NAS capacity to satisfy all people. The capacity is so large that it will not cause an uproar of blaming individuals of using more than they supposed to. This to me is also much cost efficient than having each of those individuals paying for 1tb storage. It provides longevity from the time it needs to get an upgrade, and where it's ok to let money out of their pocket again. :biggrin:

 

[BenLand150]

I like in Lincoln, NE. Verizon is THE only phone company that has any type of 4G right now. Sprint and AT&T(I believe) don't even offer WiMax or HSPA+ here yet, and either does T-Mobile I'm pretty sure. Which is sad that we get LTE markets before souped up 3G. Verizon is also the only place that has coverage pretty much anywhere outside of Lincoln and Omaha really good, sometimes at all. So, Verizon is my only option. I'll be buying full retail until they take Unlimited Data completely away as I could never go back to 3G(If you follow me on twitter you know I recently bought the iPhone 4s to see if I could ever convert, it was hell).

 

[monkey_man]

Good News is Iphone 5 will be equipped with 4G LTE ... Not the so good news is You have to pay full retail price and the "indefinite" promise from Verizon :rofl2:

 

[nalgon]

I have a upgrade left and want to get the s3. The girl at the Costco kiosk said I can get a random phone now before the 28th and exchange it when they get the S3 and keep my unlimited data. Those anyone know is this true? Buying the S3 from Costco is way cheaper then Verizon.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using DroidForums

 

[monkey_man]

Get her name like a promise note, and try to talk to different rep at Costco just to ensure. Here is what I gather from Costco Cellphone policy. Costco Wireless - Big Savings on Cell Phones - Offering Plans from Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.
Key Notes:

1. Costco.com's return policy for any Wireless Advocates merchandise obtained through this website is 90 days from the original date of purchase
2. Costco is unable to exchange or sell a replacement phone after the Carrier Trial Period ends.


I knew you mentioned about the price thing. I just put this as another consideration. Few people here have confirmed that their pre-order SGSIII will be honored as long as you purchased it before June 28 via Verizon. They also doing so by confirming their decision will not alter their Unlimited data to the rep they talked with.

P.S : I came up to this recent post on DroidForum. I have no Idea about his reliability tho. http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-razr-maxx/194060-razr-costco-can-i-trade-maxx-4.html

I do happen to work for the Costco wireless kiosks (Wireless Advocates) and will give you the official word. Do NOT contact me for favors, my private contact info, my location, internal info on launches, or anything related to my job (you won't ever get a damn thing, unless you want to pay a LOT of money to put my job at risk,) but I will tell you that you have 14 days to "exchange" the device for an alternate device per VZW policy and WA policy (the company that owns the kiosks.) The reason you can't exchange after 14 days is that VZW doesn't adjust the amount of the activation/upgrade rebate paid on the initial device after 14 days. This means the exchange can actually cause WA a loss beyond the equipment/phone loss already suffered with a returned device. The kiosk manager also takes a hit on the "fake money/profit" metric that's used to calculate his/her commission, so believe me that you will not make any friends exchanging multiple devices, they will see every phone returned or exchanged, and you may be limited on exchanges. While Costco doesn't charge restocking fees like most major carrier corp stores are doing now, they do have the ability to suspend your return privileges in cell phones on your membership. We have had the Costco Warehouse Manager suspend numerous member's phone return privileges when they try to test out the entire product lineup in 14 days.