Verizon - The beginning of the end

[UTRacerX9]

I had Verizon for years in FL and was happy because they had the best coverage in Jacksonville. Every other carrier sucked. I can't speak to the payment plan or features since it was a company phone, I just had unlimited everything, no idea what it cost. In Dallas, Sprint and AT&T are both good. Used to have Verizon here, and there were a lot of dead zones around town.

[onebadmollafolla]

Most of the phones sold are by independent retailers who have already paid Verizon full price for the device. These smaller retailers are the ones who take the $200+ hit with very little commission paid out by Verizon. Then you have to hope these new customers actually pay their bill or don't cancel, which also doesn't hurt Verizon at all as they do not compensate retailers for cancellations or delinquent accounts. I work for an independent Verizon retailer and they (Verizon Corporate) are nothing but damn greedy crooks.

If it is an independent retailer, and not a company owned location, then yes.

[HilbillyHomeboy]

It definitely sucks. I need to get my upgrade now so I don't lose my unlimited data(and still get the subsidized phone price). I have a killer Alltel plan I've been riding on for 10+ years; VZW employees cry when they see it. Especially the young ones..."how the hell did you get this plan?"

Jeremy

[Broomfield Racing]

Still got my unlimited data plan on my iPhone with AT&T. I used to do 15GB+ per month jailbroken+tethering to laptop. Now they throttle heavy users... So my unlimited data is pretty useless.

[Vishnu]

Still got my unlimited data plan on my iPhone with AT&T. I used to do 15GB+ per month jailbroken+tethering to laptop. Now they throttle heavy users... So my unlimited data is pretty useless.

Teathering will do that to you, why do you think verizon is throwing that in for free now. They're going to milk it for all it's worth.

[IPD]

blau.de prepaid. i've spent 100 euro in the first 4 months i've had this phone. including 60 euro for the phone. and i have 20 euro left on the sim card i haven't used yet.

i will NEVER go back to phone plans--and i can live without a smartphone. it's preposterous to me that any mobile provider would charge over $20/month for unlimited voice/text--so these "rape you in the ass without lube" dataplans are easily recognized as horseshit.

[NickS VR4]

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, Verizon is blocking Google Wallet for no apparent reason other than to prevent losing market share in the mobile payment market. Their Isis isn't ready yet, so they don't allow Google Wallet to be shown on the market.

[stealthee]

You guys do realize that this is just an option for people and not being forced on anyone don't you?

Oh and just so you know, all the other carriers already have something like this in the process of coming out. Verizon just beat them to market.

[onebadmollafolla]

You guys do realize that this is just an option for people and not being forced on anyone don't you?

The only way it won't be forced (after June 28th) is if you buy a phone out of promo pricing. ie. Any high end Android or iPhone for the price of $600+ before tax. So either way, you're getting raked over the coals. Either purchase insanely expensive data or keep cheaper data and pay about $700 for a phone.

[VR-4 0wnz j00]

Uhh, data does cost money. The more people using data the more capacity that is needed for a T1 cellsite. If they didn't keep adding capacity people's network speed would slow way down. In which case, people would then bitch about that. Top that with everyone always wanting faster data speeds in more areas, and you have a company that is facing a HUGE price tag considering a single tower is anywhere from $250,000-1,000,000. Also, consider the company (unless prepaid) also has to make up the price of the smartphone they just sold you and took a $200+ hit on.

As great as the US is, how can the price be that different. So Americans are paying $60 for a plan and limited data while Im paying $15 for unlimited. Where does that extra $45 go?