Verizon to kill $30/month unlimited data plan this summer - replace with family data

The free market at work. Actually I have been more pissed at this, and the rest of you look forward to the future. http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/13/2387976/regal-tinkers-with-movie-prices.html

Regal theaters tinker with movie prices in Fresno

Like it or not, you're buying popcorn and soda when you go to see a movie at UA Broadway Faire 10.
Regal Entertainment Group, owners of the local theater, has selected Fresno for an experiment with new ticket prices.
The plan -- called Pop Up Savings -- means that, along with the regular admission cost, a $4 charge will be added to every ticket to cover the cost of a refillable drink and popcorn at the theater at 3351 W. Shaw Ave. It starts May 27.
Click to expand...
 
I just can't bring myself to buy a smartphone. As much as I'd like to have some of the apps, I can't see paying the absurd data plan prices when I spend 95% of my time at home or work and have wifi both places.

And most of the time I'm out and about I don't need or want internet/e-mail access--just some exceptions when traveling etc. And that's just a handful of times a year, so not worth the $20-30 for data on an iPhone or Droid on Verizon.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']I just can't bring myself to buy a smartphone. As much as I'd like to have some of the apps, I can't see paying the absurd data plan prices when I spend 95% of my time at home or work and have wifi both places.

And most of the time I'm out and about I don't need or want internet/e-mail access--just some exceptions when traveling etc. And that's just a handful of times a year, so not worth the $20-30 for data on an iPhone or Droid on Verizon.[/QUOTE]
That's how I felt about 3 years ago, but like one of my friends said, it's like crack.:D

Then again, I only pay $6 on my line and $10 on the gf's for unlimited data instead of $20 each.:bouncy:
 
When AT&T did this with the iPhone they claimed that less than 2% of users used more than 2GB of data per month. If that's the case, the $30 a month plan everyone was on should have been a huge money maker for them yet they got rid of unlimited data. AT&T and Verizon probably hope that people go for the cheapest plan and then go over the usage limit and have to pay all those extra fees.

[quote name='cindersphere']The free market at work. Actually I have been more pissed at this, and the rest of you look forward to the future. http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/13/2387976/regal-tinkers-with-movie-prices.html[/QUOTE]

I rarely go to the movies (once or twice a year, I have yet to go to the movies in 2011) because of the ripoff prices, if all movie theaters start doing this, I'll stop going all together. Even if it is a good deal for what you get, I never get food at the movies so I don't like the idea of being forced to pay for something I wouldn't have bought in the first place.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']I just can't bring myself to buy a smartphone. As much as I'd like to have some of the apps, I can't see paying the absurd data plan prices when I spend 95% of my time at home or work and have wifi both places.

And most of the time I'm out and about I don't need or want internet/e-mail access--just some exceptions when traveling etc. And that's just a handful of times a year, so not worth the $20-30 for data on an iPhone or Droid on Verizon.[/QUOTE]

I can't view my gmail account from work. Once you upgrade, you'll never be able to go back.



[quote name='YoshiFan1']When AT&T did this with the iPhone they claimed that less than 2% of users used more than 2GB of data per month. If that's the case, the $30 a month plan everyone was on should have been a huge money maker for them yet they got rid of unlimited data. AT&T and Verizon probably hope that people go for the cheapest plan and then go over the usage limit and have to pay all those extra fees.[/QUOTE]

Actually, when people first got cell phones, they had to buy individual minute plans. Now everyone has a family plan and pays less than they would for a bunch of individual plans. I don't know about with AT&T but with Verizon, if you are going over you can simply change your plan for the month then drop back down to the cheapest plan. I had to do that one time with minutes. More likely is that they're trying to get more people to adopt smart phones and get make up in quantity. I know this has the potential to save me money.
 
[quote name='cindersphere']The free market at work. Actually I have been more pissed at this, and the rest of you look forward to the future. http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/13/2387976/regal-tinkers-with-movie-prices.html[/QUOTE]


The AMC theater by me which granted isn't as nice as the Regals offers scaled ticket prices with the time of day you go. So from 12pm to 4pm you pay $4. From 4pm to 8pm you pay $6. And from 8pm to close you pay the regular $8 dollar admission.

This pricing policy has made me want to go to the movies a lot more. (now if there would only be something worth going to watch).

This policy has some downsides as you will notice that they won't schedule too many movies between 12pm and 4pm, but I have went for a few movies in that time period. Also not many people want to go to a movie earlier in the day, I can see that argument, but at the same time with the crap hollywood is putting out, I don't mind seeing some of these movies in the afternoon for half price.

I also heard the Regal was doing something of this sort, but I have not lived close enough to a regal in awhile to go and find out.
 
[quote name='dohdough']That's how I felt about 3 years ago, but like one of my friends said, it's like crack.:D

Then again, I only pay $6 on my line and $10 on the gf's for unlimited data instead of $20 each.:bouncy:[/QUOTE]

Well, the first part is one of reasons I'm also reluctant. I already waste WAY too much time checking e-mail and goofing online. And then I see my friends/colleagues obsessively checking and responding to e-mails and lunch, dinner, at sporting events etc. and I really don't want to end up like that.

E-mails from my students or related to my research projects etc. just aren't that important. So I don't really likely the idea of always being accessible.

Cost wise, I'd be much more likely to go for it if I could get those kind of prices. But I'm wed to Verizon for the in-network unlimited calling as my girlfriend, most of my family and a majority of my friends are on it. Plus AT&T is the only other carrier I can currently get my 18% state employee discount with, and their coverage sucks around here.


[quote name='YoshiFan1']
I rarely go to the movies (once or twice a year, I have yet to go to the movies in 2011) because of the ripoff prices, if all movie theaters start doing this, I'll stop going all together. Even if it is a good deal for what you get, I never get food at the movies so I don't like the idea of being forced to pay for something I wouldn't have bought in the first place.[/QUOTE]

Same here. I love going to the movies. I haven't gone nearly as much in recent years, but simply from being busy.

But that type of policy would keep me from going as well as I too never get food. I don't get soda as I don't want to have to pee in the middle of the movie, and I don't eat junk food period very often.

[quote name='typical guy']I can't view my gmail account from work. Once you upgrade, you'll never be able to go back.[/QUOTE]

Working for a university, I have nothing blocked on my work computer. So that's moot for me.

[quote name='nasum']And yet another reason that makes me very confused about people with brand loyalty[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I hate brand loyalty. I'm kind of stuck with Verizon for the reasons stated above, but I have no loyalty to them.

Brand loyalty is a huge pet peeve of mine actually. All these entities are just greedy corporations whose only function is to find ways to get as much of our hard earned money as possible. So I hate them all equally and begrudgingly give them as little of my money as possible while getting the gadgets and services I want. :D

So it befuddles me the loyalty some have for companies like Apple or a particular cell phone carrier etc.
 
I am questioning if I can ever achieve 1 gb of data usage on these smartphone. Probably the number 1 issue with these smartphones is the battery. I am very sure that Netflix/youtube and so on takes up a lot of battery and bandwidth but honestly I would love to use the phone just for looking up prices/reviews of certain items. I would rarely use netflix because I don't want to kill my battery. My gf and I are about to go on to a family share plan but we are still trying to wait out a decent phone with a slide out keyboard for Verizon or sprint (although next week BB is giving the Epic 4g for free when you sign up with them!) I want to get below 100 dollars on our service but I know the data plan will kill us.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']I am questioning if I can ever achieve 1 gb of data usage on these smartphone. Probably the number 1 issue with these smartphones is the battery. I am very sure that Netflix/youtube and so on takes up a lot of battery and bandwidth but honestly I would love to use the phone just for looking up prices/reviews of certain items. I would rarely use netflix because I don't want to kill my battery. My gf and I are about to go on to a family share plan but we are still trying to wait out a decent phone with a slide out keyboard for Verizon or sprint (although next week BB is giving the Epic 4g for free when you sign up with them!) I want to get below 100 dollars on our service but I know the data plan will kill us.[/QUOTE]
You'd be surprised at how much you actually use. If all you do is go to mobile versions of websites, you'll be well within 1 gig. If you go to full versions with flash for about an hour a day, you'll easily go over 1 gig, but not two. Add youtube or any media streaming service, you'll be well over 2 gigs if you're going to use it consistently throughout the day.

I only browse forums and hit up the usual deals sites for about an hour a day and I'm at 1.1 gigs.
 
honestly it would be mostly CAG, amazon, BB or other B&M stores and that's pretty much it. Oh GPS usage would be a must...but who the hell uses over 1gb of GPS data a month?
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']I am questioning if I can ever achieve 1 gb of data usage on these smartphone. Probably the number 1 issue with these smartphones is the battery. I am very sure that Netflix/youtube and so on takes up a lot of battery and bandwidth but honestly I would love to use the phone just for looking up prices/reviews of certain items. I would rarely use netflix because I don't want to kill my battery. My gf and I are about to go on to a family share plan but we are still trying to wait out a decent phone with a slide out keyboard for Verizon or sprint (although next week BB is giving the Epic 4g for free when you sign up with them!) I want to get below 100 dollars on our service but I know the data plan will kill us.[/QUOTE]

The one thing that a lot of people use is internet radio. That can burn through a lot of data fast. For me, I mostly listen to podcasts and I generally dl those at home through wifi (google listen app). A low end data family dataplan could save me a ton of money.
 
Mmm... I love that people who haven't even owned a smartphone yet are commenting.

For those un-enlightened: This move is aimed at customers who have made a practice of tethering with their cell phone connection. Tethering is connecting your cell phone to your computer or creating a WiFi hotspot and using it for an internet connection. This strikes a chord with the wireless companies because:
1) Increased bandwidth
B) Most of these companies offer hard-line broadband and it's cannibalizing sales of service.
 
But doesn't Verizon charge an extra $20 a month (on top of your data plan fees)?

Are they getting rid of that with this new tiered system? Or will the tethering fee be on top of your tiered data plan? Or is that not known yet?

I commented on the thread, despite not yet owning a smart phone, as it's about changes data plan pricing options--which is what has kept me from buying a smart phone so far. i.e. I'm interested in what the new options may be.
 
[quote name='QiG']Mmm... I love that people who haven't even owned a smartphone yet are commenting.

For those un-enlightened: This move is aimed at customers who have made a practice of tethering with their cell phone connection. Tethering is connecting your cell phone to your computer or creating a WiFi hotspot and using it for an internet connection. This strikes a chord with the wireless companies because:
1) Increased bandwidth
B) Most of these companies offer hard-line broadband and it's cannibalizing sales of service.[/QUOTE]
Umm, the move is aimed at getting more money from people. Even if people did not tether these plans would still crop up like they did for vanilla internet.

BTW never owned a cell phone before.
 
Verizon offers mobile hot-spot officially for $20/month. But there are a lot of tethering apps already out for Android and built into custom phone software that bypass any carrier restrictions.

Also, there is a 5GB cap on data industry wide even though they all advertise it as unlimited.
 
But haven't they been sending out notices to people who where tethering without a plan and threatening to add the charge (or ban their account?) if they didn't stop? Or was that AT&T?

I remember reading something about that recently, but can't recall which carrier it was for sure.
 
I wouldn't mind this if there's a tier for low load users. I didn't feel like paying $30 for falsely advertised "unlimited" when I only use about 20MB per month. Even $15 a month for a fucking gigabyte is ridiculous. Even all the cavemen still subscribing to dial-up AOL get better service for their dollar.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']I wouldn't mind this if there's a tier for low load users. I didn't feel like paying $30 for falsely advertised "unlimited" when I only use about 20MB per month. Even $15 a month for a fucking gigabyte is ridiculous. Even all the cavemen still subscribing to dial-up AOL get better service for their dollar.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's why I don't have a smartphone. I have wifi home and work so I just don't need 3G enough to pay current rates.

If I could pay $10 for say 500mb or something I'd probably take the plunge. That way I have to check e-mail or look up a restaurant address etc. when out and about or when traveling, and just use the wifi for anything that's bandwith heavy. Hell, I'd be happy just having a smartphone and no data plan and just use wifi honestly since it's so easy to find free WiFi around the city--which is why I went wifi only for my iPad and Kindle.

Speaking of fees, I should probably ditch my $5 month text plan as I can't remember the last time I used $5 worth of texts. I probably haven't since moving away after finishing grad school 2 years ago as all those people I texted before are far away now and we mainly keep in touch via e-mail and Facebook.
 
[quote name='QiG']Mmm... I love that people who haven't even owned a smartphone yet are commenting.

For those un-enlightened: This move is aimed at customers who have made a practice of tethering with their cell phone connection. Tethering is connecting your cell phone to your computer or creating a WiFi hotspot and using it for an internet connection. This strikes a chord with the wireless companies because:
1) Increased bandwidth
B) Most of these companies offer hard-line broadband and it's cannibalizing sales of service.[/QUOTE]
Uhhh...it's a money grab that the telecoms have been working on for over a year.

[quote name='dmaul1114']But doesn't Verizon charge an extra $20 a month (on top of your data plan fees)?

Are they getting rid of that with this new tiered system? Or will the tethering fee be on top of your tiered data plan? Or is that not known yet?

I commented on the thread, despite not yet owning a smart phone, as it's about changes data plan pricing options--which is what has kept me from buying a smart phone so far. i.e. I'm interested in what the new options may be.[/QUOTE]
Tiered data is here to stay and tethering is on top of the data add-on.

[quote name='dmaul1114']But haven't they been sending out notices to people who where tethering without a plan and threatening to add the charge (or ban their account?) if they didn't stop? Or was that AT&T?

I remember reading something about that recently, but can't recall which carrier it was for sure.[/QUOTE]
It was ATT, but tmobile occasionally goes on fishing expeditions to get people off granfathered data plans like the ones I have.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah, that's why I don't have a smartphone. I have wifi home and work so I just don't need 3G enough to pay current rates.

If I could pay $10 for say 500mb or something I'd probably take the plunge. That way I have to check e-mail or look up a restaurant address etc. when out and about or when traveling, and just use the wifi for anything that's bandwith heavy. Hell, I'd be happy just having a smartphone and no data plan and just use wifi honestly since it's so easy to find free WiFi around the city--which is why I went wifi only for my iPad and Kindle.

Speaking of fees, I should probably ditch my $5 month text plan as I can't remember the last time I used $5 worth of texts. I probably haven't since moving away after finishing grad school 2 years ago as all those people I texted before are far away now and we mainly keep in touch via e-mail and Facebook.[/QUOTE]
If you make over 25 texts a month, I'd keep it.
 
[quote name='dohdough']If you make over 25 texts a month, I'd keep it.[/QUOTE]

I know, but I don't. I don't think I made any texts last month. :D I usually make maybe 5-10 a month lately it looks like. With one exception last fall when I was at a conference and around a bunch of friends from grad school etc.

I was way above that in grad school as a lot of my friends were big texted and would send random texts, use texts to meet up when going out etc. But most of that has stopped since I moved and the friends I keep in touch with I mainly use e-mail and Facebook.

I never cared much for texting anyway, just had lots of friends who did and had to get a plan to quit paying more than $5 a month. I'd rather just call than text most of the time personally.
 
[quote name='dohdough']That's how I felt about 3 years ago, but like one of my friends said, it's like crack.:D

Then again, I only pay $6 on my line and $10 on the gf's for unlimited data instead of $20 each.:bouncy:[/QUOTE]
Me too, until I had one. Now I use the thing constantly.
 
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