Verizon tries prepaid again with new AllSet service plans, here are the details
Verizon Wireless is giving their prepaid wireless plans a little overhaul in hopes of entice new customers looking for service on the cheap. AllSet is their latest stab at prepaid, allowing customers to buy their data a la carte, on top of a unlimited calls and text, providing they bring their own (Verizon) phone. Here’s how it works.
First, you start off with the basic $45 smartphone prepaid plan that includes unlimited calling and text messaging and 500MB of data (1GB of DATA when enrolling in auto-pay) — and here’s the kicker — on Verizon’s 3G network. Sorry, folks. No 4G LTE to be found here. After that, additional data (dubbed “Bridge Data”) can be purchased in chunks where it will remain on an account until it’s been completely exhausted. If not, the data actually carries over to the next month. Pretty neat. Here’s the data pricing:
Bridge Data
- 500 MB for $5 with 30-day expiration
- 1 GB for $10 with 90-day expiration
- 3 GB for $20 with 90-day expiration
Once again, purchased data does have an expiration date, meaning data sippers can’t shouldn’t expect to use 500MB over the course of 3 months. In theory, the best deal is the 1GB or 3GB data chunks which can roll over for 3 months.
After adding up the numbers, you’ll find Verizon’s new AllSet plans are still a little bit on the pricey side. For instance, unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of Verizon 3G data still runs about $55 (if enrolled in auto-pay).
Taking a quick look at the competition and you’ll find T-Mobile offers nearly the same plan for $60 a month and 2.5GB of high-speed 4G LTE data. If AT&T’s coverage is more to your liking, Straight Talk will sell you unlimited talk/text and 2.5GB of 4G LTE on AT&T’s 4G LTE network for barely $45 a month. The choice is yours.