Phones on Verizon now have data cap

[Flip]

So, recently it looks like Verizon changed their pricing options for data on smartphones. It used to be you could pay $30 a month for unlimited, but now $30 only gets you 2 GB of data. 5 GB and 10 GB plans are available at $50 and $80, respectively. These charges are on top of your talk plan, of which the cheapest is a $59.99 450 min talk/unlimited text. After tax and fees that are expensive and unavoidable, my cell phone is close to $100 a month. I really wish i could get a cheaper talk plan, i only use like 200 minutes a month at best, its really more like 100-150 minutes.

Its funny how the cycles have gone from limits on everything, from minutes to data, to unlimited (as companies tried to compete with one another), to now they all have caps again. ATT&T did this same thing last year. I think all things in life should be a la carte. Just like i only want a handful of cable channel from DirecTV, all i really want in a cell phone plan is 100 minutes, unlimited texting, and unlimited data. All this should be like $50 a month.

[Lox]

Thankfully, as long as you don't mess with your plan you get grandfathered into unlimited data on Verizon (for now). Apparently, even when I upgrade to my next Android phone and even if I move into an LTE/4G plan, I'll stay in the unlimited plan.

Have you looked into Virgin Mobile? I have a couple friends who use it because it's so affordable. It's like $25/month for unlimited data and texting and 300 minutes. The only downside is that their coverage isn't nearly as good as Verizon's and there aren't weekend/nighttime minutes so you get the 300 for everything (but that may be all you use).

I've considered Virgin Mobile myself because of the prices.

[Shrinweck]

How do you even get close to 10gb on your phone? Unless you're an app reviewer it just doesn't seem feasible. Is this a Netflix thing? You people cannot possibly be using that much Instant Watch on the go :P

[Flip]

Luckily, WiFi doesnt count so if you are home doing stuff on your phone, you are golden. There is this one online MMO phone game called Pocket Legends that i like to play while watching baseball on TV (and drinking beers) that eats up a lot of data if i forget to switch on WiFi.

I have thought about doing Virgin or one of those other pre-paid phones, but i like cool phones and those dont hit the pre-paid ones very often. Considering my phone is my texting machine (i text a lot), my walkman, my navigation device, my e-mail, my sports ticker, my browser sometimes, and my portable game machine... $100 a month isnt all that bad i suppose.

[Zeus]

Did I miss something? Did Rogers or Bell merge with Verizon?

[Julius Seeker]

I am not sure how much data Pocket Legends takes up; but I play a few games that use data, and watch a a lot of youtube, and web-surf a lot, and I usually do not exceed 1 GB per month - in fact, I am not sure that I ever have. I last reset my stats February 2010, and my data usage is sitting at 5.3 GB, which is about 300MB per month. Although, I don't think my company (Rogers) charges data for certain services/websites.

I think the people that this hits are those that tether their connections.

Though yeah, those telecommunications companies are gouging customers (Rogers and Bell each have an operating income of 4 billion annually, Telus is 2 billion - and this is on revenue of 15 billion for Bell, 10 billion for Rogers, and 9 billion for Telus)...

[Lox]

I'm on my phone constantly and I never use more than 1.5GBs per month.

[Sephy]

The thing that irritates me is Verizon's utter greed in this situation. Now granted, I got on Verizon prior to caps with a 4G phone because no other provider works in my hospital, so it doesn't apply to me. When ATT/Tmo et al went to caps, they at least dropped the price from the unlimited plan for caps. When I had my iPhone, the 3g is so slow that unless I was tethering like crazy, I never even came CLOSE to 2GB, so it was a nice way to save a few bucks for a month. And hell, Verizon's is about half the speed of my iPhone's 3g. But Verizon is charging 30 bucks for a measly 2GB, and then has the gall to say they are "simplifying" things for their customers! How the hell is anything simpler than one plan for one price? Especially given the most restrictive and cheapest plan is the same price as prior unlimited rates.

It really is crazy. If I didn't get a fat employee discount, I wouldn't be on VZW. No amount of network coverage is worth paying 80-100$+ a month for the lowest tier.

[Zeus]

I love how the Americans are cryin' like little schoolgirls now that they're getting a small taste of the bullshit we Canadians have been fighting for over a decade. Really, guys, you have it so easy compared to us it's ridiculous. Ain't no sympathy comin' from up here.

[Flip]

The thing that irritates me is Verizon's utter greed in this situation. Now granted, I got on Verizon prior to caps with a 4G phone because no other provider works in my hospital, so it doesn't apply to me. When ATT/Tmo et al went to caps, they at least dropped the price from the unlimited plan for caps. When I had my iPhone, the 3g is so slow that unless I was tethering like crazy, I never even came CLOSE to 2GB, so it was a nice way to save a few bucks for a month. And hell, Verizon's is about half the speed of my iPhone's 3g. But Verizon is charging 30 bucks for a measly 2GB, and then has the gall to say they are "simplifying" things for their customers! How the hell is anything simpler than one plan for one price? Especially given the most restrictive and cheapest plan is the same price as prior unlimited rates.

It really is crazy. If I didn't get a fat employee discount, I wouldn't be on VZW. No amount of network coverage is worth paying 80-100$+ a month for the lowest tier.

I thought the same thing. The unlimited was $30, when the caps came i really expected the 2GB to be $20 and go up from there. That would actually save a lot of people money, but at the same time Verizon would probably break even or actually get more money for the low % of people that are huge data hogs and go over their limit or get the higher package. Going from $30 unlimited to $30 2GB is a slap in the face to all their customers.