5 ms·

Verizon to Offer iPhone Users "Unlimited" Data

19 points by sandipc 16y ago

markbao 16y ago
This is like kicking current iPhone users like me when they're already down with the announcement of the Verizon iPhone. Haunting.
- eli 16y ago
  I would imagine Verizon is hoping it's sweet enough deal that it lures people who already have an iPhone on AT&T
- kacy 16y ago
  I'm going to keep my phone until July when the iPhone 5 comes out. I'm betting that's going to be the LTE phone. Besides, Verizon's network is a bit slower than AT&T in my area. I'll have to wait until the announcement though. :-)
- htsh 16y ago
  I would not be surprised if AT&T matches the price in the near future. Seems like the least they should do unless they like losing customers..
tolmasky 16y ago
I don't know if I'll switch immediately, but come any catalyst - be it a new iPhone model or my AT&T contract running out - you can bet I won't be sticking around.
- kordless 16y ago
  This is why I'm running an old beat up 3GS. My contract is up and I'm ready for a new phone.
  - joezydeco 16y ago
    It's amusing that something can now be considered "old" and "beat up" in less than 18 months.
    - derefr 16y ago
      I'm slightly more amused: I have a 3G in my pocket whose headphone jack has literally caved in on itself from overwear (from a big 1/4" -> 1/8" adapter dongle that bore into it over time) and now needs to be held tilted to one side for sound to work—and yet I still consider this to be a pretty damn nice piece of technology: I mean, the (unprotected) screen still doesn't even have any scratches!
      - joezydeco 16y ago
        I just take it as a sign that the Singularity is still coming. It's like when the rumors were going around about AT&T offering $0 iPhone 3G units this past Christmas and the cry went up near and far: "OMG! Why would anyone want to buy something so useless?!?" Really?
    - pavel_lishin 16y ago
      Well, if he doesn't treat his phone well, it may very well be beat-up. But yeah, "old"? I have a 3GS, and it's still running fine, and I'm still quite satisfied with it.
htsh 16y ago
re: AT&T's plan, I think they mean two gigabytes, not two gigabits?
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  This is the WSJ; did you really expect them to know the difference?
- aharrison 16y ago
  I know this is kind of a dead horse, but it is amusing to me that the difference in verbage there is literally a factor of 8 (almost a proverbial order of magnitude). Geeks often know, but laymen very rarely do. Kind of a big thing to gloss over, regardless of which side (AT&T, Verizon, WSJ) you are on.
- alexqgb 16y ago
  No, two gigabits is correct. Its publication follows AT&T's new year's resolution to just come clean about what their network can actually deliver.
w1ntermute 16y ago
Is this plan actually unlimited, or is there a soft cap? I'm guessing the latter. I know some people are going to say its absurd to suggest Verizon should offer a truly unlimited plan, but in that case, they shouldn't be advertising their plan as such either.
jcr 16y ago
I doubt the Verizon "unlimited" claim is sincere. Let me explain why. When Verizon rolled out its 3G data plan (EVDO Rev.0) in 2005, they initially sold an "unlimited" plan. Very few smart phones could do EVDO, so it was mostly the sale of USB dongles for use with laptops and similar. In 2006, Verizon started terminating "abusive" users for downloading too much on their supposed "unlimited" plan, and after much wrangling, Verizon finally declared that using more than 5GByte/Month of network traffic is their line in the sand for "abuse." The above resulted in a class action suit for false advertising. The way Verizon resolved the dispute is not very well known. They simply changed the terms for new customers so new customers would pay per KB fees for everything in excess of 5GByte, and the new accounts were no longer advertised as "unlimited." The old customers were allowed to keep their "unlimited" status and use the connection as much as they want, but if transfers got too far past 5GByte, the connection would be throttled back to a slower speed. As the saying goes, the old customers were "grandfathered in" with basically the old terms. --The reason, of course, after a few years is most people would make changes to their account, like accepting a "free" new phone/dongle offer, and create a new contract under the new LIMITED terms. Since I was an early adopter, I have an old "unlimited" account. I refuse to change the account, so it remains unlimited. Only on very rare occasion do I see it get throttled for a few days until the billing cycle ends. With the new iPhone offering, Verizon might be using the same "unlimited" tricks to get early adopters. It will be interesting to see how this works out... EDIT: precafinated typos
- brown9-2 16y ago
  If you try to buy a new smartphone from verizonwireless.com and you select the "Unlimited Email & Web for Smartphones" service, this [1] is the page they give you for the terms and conditions of the deal. I don't see any mention of a 5GB soft cap or any walking-back of the "unlimited" term. [1] http://support.vzw.com/terms/products/vz_email.html http://support.vzw.com/terms/products/vz_email.html
  - jcr 16y ago
    Of course, things have changed a whole lot in the last five years since 2006. Also, Verizon offers a whole lot of different plans, and not all of the details are public. If there is a cap for the specific phone+web+mail package you found, I would bet the cap is hidden in their terms of service as their definition of "abuse."
danilocampos 16y ago
What I want to know about is tethering terms. Do it right, Verizon, and you'll poach many AT&T subscribers, myself included.
- brown9-2 16y ago
  The article reads like they are merely going to continue to offer their existing unlimited data plan which they already offer for other phones/devices. From the article, it doesn't sound like they are changing or introducing new services or terms.
cmelbye 16y ago
I don't think I'll be switching to Verizon, but this competition is great. Hopefully it will wake AT&T up and this current nightmare will end.
code_duck 16y ago
I supposedly have unlimited data from Verizon on the Android phone I have. I'm actually surprised at how little I've been able to use in a month (my max has been 2-3 GB). I don't watch a lot of videos, but I stream a fair bit of music and browse the web frequently, making use of wifi when possible. I think this works like shared hosting. Many people think they need unlimited bandwidth, and it sounds great, but they end up using far less than expected. This more than makes up for the people who use excessive amounts.
- michaelbuckbee 16y ago
  To a great extent I think it's just the "no surprises" aspect of having unlimited bandwidth as well as the not having to pay the cost of your time in monitoring, worrying am I using too much and all that. I only recently did the math with my phone and figured out that I could save a chunk every month by downgrading from the unlimited plan and actually using the WiFi in my house.
soult 16y ago
We have one carrier offering an unlimited 3G plan here in Austria. They don't limit you or shape you traffic when you use too much (I had 80 GB traffic last month). The bad thing is that their network is often an order of magnitude slower than the networks of their competitors that don't offer an unlimited plan. During the late afternoon/evening it is unusable, even for surfing or checking your mails.
cletus 16y ago
I'm really glad that in Australia we have a strong government consumer rights body, being the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commmission). Several years ago they banned the use of the word "unlimited" on ADSL (or any Internet) accounts unless it truly was no unlimited. If the account had "fair use" limits, traffic shaping or overage fees. The result? You buy the quota you want. Outside of Australia people seem to dislike the idea of quotas but the result is practices like surreptitious shaping. Quotas really are fairer and (IMHO) have the best end result. As for Verizon, I have a DroidX and live in NYC. My iPhone is useless in a lot of places. My Droid isn't. I can't help but think the net result of the Verizon iPhone will be that my DroidX will become equally useless.

19 points by sandipc 16y ago

This is like kicking current iPhone users like me when they're already down with the announcement of the Verizon iPhone. Haunting.

eli 16y ago
I would imagine Verizon is hoping it's sweet enough deal that it lures people who already have an iPhone on AT&T
kacy 16y ago
I'm going to keep my phone until July when the iPhone 5 comes out. I'm betting that's going to be the LTE phone. Besides, Verizon's network is a bit slower than AT&T in my area. I'll have to wait until the announcement though. :-)
htsh 16y ago
I would not be surprised if AT&T matches the price in the near future. Seems like the least they should do unless they like losing customers..

tolmasky 16y ago

I don't know if I'll switch immediately, but come any catalyst - be it a new iPhone model or my AT&T contract running out - you can bet I won't be sticking around.

kordless 16y ago
This is why I'm running an old beat up 3GS. My contract is up and I'm ready for a new phone.
- joezydeco 16y ago
  It's amusing that something can now be considered "old" and "beat up" in less than 18 months.
  - derefr 16y ago
    I'm slightly more amused: I have a 3G in my pocket whose headphone jack has literally caved in on itself from overwear (from a big 1/4" -> 1/8" adapter dongle that bore into it over time) and now needs to be held tilted to one side for sound to work—and yet I still consider this to be a pretty damn nice piece of technology: I mean, the (unprotected) screen still doesn't even have any scratches!
    - joezydeco 16y ago
      I just take it as a sign that the Singularity is still coming. It's like when the rumors were going around about AT&T offering $0 iPhone 3G units this past Christmas and the cry went up near and far: "OMG! Why would anyone want to buy something so useless?!?" Really?
  - pavel_lishin 16y ago
    Well, if he doesn't treat his phone well, it may very well be beat-up. But yeah, "old"? I have a 3GS, and it's still running fine, and I'm still quite satisfied with it.

htsh 16y ago

re: AT&T's plan, I think they mean two gigabytes, not two gigabits?

w1ntermute 16y ago
This is the WSJ; did you really expect them to know the difference?
aharrison 16y ago
I know this is kind of a dead horse, but it is amusing to me that the difference in verbage there is literally a factor of 8 (almost a proverbial order of magnitude). Geeks often know, but laymen very rarely do. Kind of a big thing to gloss over, regardless of which side (AT&T, Verizon, WSJ) you are on.
alexqgb 16y ago
No, two gigabits is correct. Its publication follows AT&T's new year's resolution to just come clean about what their network can actually deliver.

w1ntermute 16y ago

Is this plan actually unlimited, or is there a soft cap? I'm guessing the latter. I know some people are going to say its absurd to suggest Verizon should offer a truly unlimited plan, but in that case, they shouldn't be advertising their plan as such either.

jcr 16y ago

I doubt the Verizon "unlimited" claim is sincere. Let me explain why. When Verizon rolled out its 3G data plan (EVDO Rev.0) in 2005, they initially sold an "unlimited" plan. Very few smart phones could do EVDO, so it was mostly the sale of USB dongles for use with laptops and similar. In 2006, Verizon started terminating "abusive" users for downloading too much on their supposed "unlimited" plan, and after much wrangling, Verizon finally declared that using more than 5GByte/Month of network traffic is their line in the sand for "abuse." The above resulted in a class action suit for false advertising. The way Verizon resolved the dispute is not very well known. They simply changed the terms for new customers so new customers would pay per KB fees for everything in excess of 5GByte, and the new accounts were no longer advertised as "unlimited." The old customers were allowed to keep their "unlimited" status and use the connection as much as they want, but if transfers got too far past 5GByte, the connection would be throttled back to a slower speed. As the saying goes, the old customers were "grandfathered in" with basically the old terms. --The reason, of course, after a few years is most people would make changes to their account, like accepting a "free" new phone/dongle offer, and create a new contract under the new LIMITED terms. Since I was an early adopter, I have an old "unlimited" account. I refuse to change the account, so it remains unlimited. Only on very rare occasion do I see it get throttled for a few days until the billing cycle ends. With the new iPhone offering, Verizon might be using the same "unlimited" tricks to get early adopters. It will be interesting to see how this works out... EDIT: precafinated typos

brown9-2 16y ago
If you try to buy a new smartphone from verizonwireless.com and you select the "Unlimited Email & Web for Smartphones" service, this [1] is the page they give you for the terms and conditions of the deal. I don't see any mention of a 5GB soft cap or any walking-back of the "unlimited" term. [1] http://support.vzw.com/terms/products/vz_email.html http://support.vzw.com/terms/products/vz_email.html
- jcr 16y ago
  Of course, things have changed a whole lot in the last five years since 2006. Also, Verizon offers a whole lot of different plans, and not all of the details are public. If there is a cap for the specific phone+web+mail package you found, I would bet the cap is hidden in their terms of service as their definition of "abuse."

danilocampos 16y ago

What I want to know about is tethering terms. Do it right, Verizon, and you'll poach many AT&T subscribers, myself included.

brown9-2 16y ago
The article reads like they are merely going to continue to offer their existing unlimited data plan which they already offer for other phones/devices. From the article, it doesn't sound like they are changing or introducing new services or terms.

cmelbye 16y ago

I don't think I'll be switching to Verizon, but this competition is great. Hopefully it will wake AT&T up and this current nightmare will end.

code_duck 16y ago

I supposedly have unlimited data from Verizon on the Android phone I have. I'm actually surprised at how little I've been able to use in a month (my max has been 2-3 GB). I don't watch a lot of videos, but I stream a fair bit of music and browse the web frequently, making use of wifi when possible. I think this works like shared hosting. Many people think they need unlimited bandwidth, and it sounds great, but they end up using far less than expected. This more than makes up for the people who use excessive amounts.

michaelbuckbee 16y ago
To a great extent I think it's just the "no surprises" aspect of having unlimited bandwidth as well as the not having to pay the cost of your time in monitoring, worrying am I using too much and all that. I only recently did the math with my phone and figured out that I could save a chunk every month by downgrading from the unlimited plan and actually using the WiFi in my house.

soult 16y ago

We have one carrier offering an unlimited 3G plan here in Austria. They don't limit you or shape you traffic when you use too much (I had 80 GB traffic last month). The bad thing is that their network is often an order of magnitude slower than the networks of their competitors that don't offer an unlimited plan. During the late afternoon/evening it is unusable, even for surfing or checking your mails.

cletus 16y ago

I'm really glad that in Australia we have a strong government consumer rights body, being the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commmission). Several years ago they banned the use of the word "unlimited" on ADSL (or any Internet) accounts unless it truly was no unlimited. If the account had "fair use" limits, traffic shaping or overage fees. The result? You buy the quota you want. Outside of Australia people seem to dislike the idea of quotas but the result is practices like surreptitious shaping. Quotas really are fairer and (IMHO) have the best end result. As for Verizon, I have a DroidX and live in NYC. My iPhone is useless in a lot of places. My Droid isn't. I can't help but think the net result of the Verizon iPhone will be that my DroidX will become equally useless.