Verizon Tiered Data Expected October 28th
Yea, it’s that Verizon rumor again. (No, not the Big Red-compatible iPhone.) We’re talking about Verizon’s apparent plans to introduce tiered data plans in a trend that seems to be picking up a lot of steam here in America. Even if Verizon insists on denying allegations that they’ll be bringing out tiered data options in the near future (near is emphasized because they haven’t been so quiet on their desire to eventually explore that option), the rumor will continue to come up and will be stronger each time it does.
The biggest takeaway for our Android-loving readers is regarding Verizon’s plans for Smartphone users. According to the leaksters – Engadget – no: unlimited plans have not been eliminated. Take a look at the full breakdown:
- Smartphone owners will choose between $15 for 150MB with $0.10 / MB overage, or $29.99 for unlimited access. This stands in contrast to AT&T, which offers another 50MB (for a total of 200MB) at the $15 price level or 2GB for $25 with no unlimited option.
- As we’ve already seen with the MiFi-equipped iPad, there’ll be $20, $35, and $50 tablet plans for 1GB, 3GB, and 5GB, respectively, all with overage of $10 per gigabyte. There will also be a $80 plan for 10GB with the same overage rate.
- MiFi, FiveSpot, and integrated netbook / notebook modem owners will choose between $50 / 5GB and $80 / 10GB plans. The MiFi and FiveSpot will also have access to the tablet-centric $35 / 3GB plan as part of a 90-day promo. All of these plans have overage priced at 1GB for $10.
- Feature phones will need to choose between $1.99 “pay as you go” (though it’s not clear what that means — could be unlimited at $1.99 per day, but we really don’t know), $15 for 150MB, or $29.99 for unlimited. The old $9.99 / 25MB option will be killed off.
- USB modem pricing remains unchanged at $39.99 for 250MB or $59.99 for 5GB. We’d say this means Big Red is strongly discouraging folks from buying these right now.
And if these plans do turn out to be true, they will most likely only apply to Verizon’s 3G offering. LTE is expected to launch by the end of this year – with first Android handsets expected to be announced at CES 2011 – and we expect Verizon has something different in store for users who opt-in to that next generation data network, instead. Engadget for the full leaked Q&A.