Verizon to have family data plans

[dezymond]

Welp, looks like Verizon is going to have family data plans after all. It's been talked about for awhile, but I guess mid-2012 is the time they'll start them. What do you all think? (Did a search haven't found a thread on it.)

Source: Verizon to offer family data plans by mid-2012, says CFO | PhoneDog

 

[syndicate0017]

I think its a good thing for everyone except those grandfathered into unlimited plans.

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[dezymond]

I think its a good thing for everyone except those grandfathered into unlimited plans.

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Yeah overall it'll be cheaper, but I can't live without unlimited data, especially on 4g. I wonder if Verizon will let me change the 3 other lines to this family data plan, could save quite a bit of money.

 

[syndicate0017]

That would be nice. I've been wanting to get my Mom a smartphone for about a year now but she can't fathom 30 more a month on her. The rest of the family (except me) use less than 1 GB per month COMBINED. If they could share 2 GB and I keep my unlimited, that would be awesome.

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[dezymond]

That would be nice. I've been wanting to get my Mom a smartphone for about a year now but she can't fathom 30 more a month on her. The rest of the family (except me) use less than 1 GB per month COMBINED. If they could share 2 GB and I keep my unlimited, that would be awesome.

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Exactly what I have in mind. 4 smartphones is quite expensive, and combining the 3 that use less than 2gb of data month would save a pretty good amount of money on the bill. When this goes into effect I'll definitely check it out. If the only way for me to keep my unlimited data is to break off the family plan I have no problem doing that either.

 

[wolstonc]

Mark my words. They won't be compatible with unlimited data, and will start making you switch to tiered on your next upgrade. And sprint will gain a lot of customers.

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[TheOldFart]

Mark my words. They won't be compatible with unlimited data, and will start making you switch to tiered on your next upgrade. And sprint will gain a lot of customers.

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I think there are more users who use small amounts of data monthly and will jump on this if they can get like 2GB shared for $30. I know that I will. While a lot might jump to Sprint, I'm betting that a lot more will jump to Verizon. Some on this forum think that they are the norm. I think they are the exception.

 

[dezymond]

Mark my words. They won't be compatible with unlimited data, and will start making you switch to tiered on your next upgrade. And sprint will gain a lot of customers.

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An unlimited data family plan (man that'd be awesome) just means they lose a ton of money so yes if you move into a family data plan you would lose it, only way it would work really. However, alot of the public doesn't come close to 2gb a month, even combined. We here at DF are a tiny percentage of Verizon or any other carrier for that matter. Here we consider ourselves "the norm" as OldFart says, but really we are the exception. Many of us here need/want unlimited data while the general public has no need for data, but they just want a smartphone. Family data plans is a great marketing move on Verizon's part and should have definitely been something they should have done years ago imo, same with any other carrier. Now if they change up their family plan contracts so you can't get off one to keep unlimited data, then we have a problem....

 

[syndicate0017]

I wonder if they'll charge 10 additional bucks per line to share data like they do with sharing minutes...

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[dezymond]

I wonder if they'll charge 10 additional bucks per line to share data like they do with sharing minutes...

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Even then it'd still be cheaper than 3 separate data plans :hail:

 

[syndicate0017]

Even then it'd still be cheaper than 3 separate data plans :hail:

But it wouldn't be worth giving up my unlimited data (assuming I'd have to give it up to convert). Right now I pay 90 dollars in data. If I were to convert to family data, I'd need at least 5 GB to share. That's 50 bucks + 10 bucks on each line = 80 bucks (only saving 10 bucks).

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[dezymond]

But it wouldn't be worth giving up my unlimited data (assuming I'd have to give it up to convert). Right now I pay 90 dollars in data. If I were to convert to family data, I'd need at least 5 GB to share. That's 50 bucks + 10 bucks on each line = 80 bucks (only saving 10 bucks).

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Well depends on situation. For me right now a total of $120 for data. Say $30 (2gb plan) + $10/line (3 lines) I would be at $60. Add in the $30 for my specific line (unlimited) and that brings it to $90 for a total savings of $30/mo. Save me a good $360 a year, I'll take it

Too bad we don't know the pricing of these new plans

 

[Meltman]

I would love to see this happen but not looking forward to seeing how they set it up. You would love to see it work out but they never seem to help as much as hurt. My kids are driving me nuts wanting a smartphone. So let's hope it is a good deal!

 

[LoudRam]

I'm all for this. It's only my wife on her BB (soon to be replaced with an Android for her next upgrade) and me. However she's on it very little, usually for work, and both of us have wifi at home and work and that's what we use. The last three months I've used an avg of 25.6 MB and my wife used an avg of 5.95 MB. So a 2 GB family plan would be plenty for us as long as it's less than $60. That would save me some money.

 

[TheOldFart]

Well depends on situation. For me right now a total of $120 for data. Say $30 (2gb plan) + $10/line (3 lines) I would be at $60. Add in the $30 for my specific line (unlimited) and that brings it to $90 for a total savings of $30/mo. Save me a good $360 a year, I'll take it

Too bad we don't know the pricing of these new plans

I would take the savings if I were you, but I doubt that Verizon will allow what you want. I don't think that they will allow 1 line on the family plan to be unlimited and the other ones to be on a separate family share data plan. I think they would make you have a completely separate plan and the rest of the family have another separate plan. Just as they don't have a family phone plan where 1 member of the family has 1400 minutes and the other 3 members get to share 700 minutes.