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And here we go...Share Everything plans

So, our family plan of 400 shared min (which is WAY too much), 500 texts (or something like that, plenty) and unlimited data comes to about $180 a month (incl. all fees).
I think if we could get by sharing 5gig, it'd be plenty. Not sure if it would save us much.
 
Hmm.. At the base amount, this could save me about $15 a month while sacrificing unlimited data for 4gb (We use probably 2.5 to 3) - 6gb would end up saving me only $5. I'd like to see how my corporate discount factors in, as that is only on my line and not my wife's.
 
My plan (1 smart+2 dumb phones) costs $120 a month. Their new idea involves me paying $180... no thanks.

And as we suspected, they are going to remove my grandfathered unlimited data plan if I take a discounted upgrade.

Gee, thanks a lot, Verizon!
 
Couldn't find anything in there regarding whether or not corp discounts will or will not still apply.

If they don't, our 3 smartphone family plan looks to be almost identicle in price with a 6GB shared data.

If Corp discounts WILL apply somehow, our plan would be less expensive. Our corp discount now is 27% off basic minutes (we have 1400 minutes with Friends and Family) plan and 20% off the account holders data plan. Also if we could squeeze by with a 4GB data plan (which I think is doable) we could save an additional $10. We currently average about 2 to 2-1/2GBs of data per month now but we all have 3G phones. When we all upgrade to 4G phones it might be a different outcome.

I think the new plans will work in our favor slightly but it will depend on whether corp discounts will still be available. The high data users are "up the excrement waterway, without any visible means of propulsion" if you get what I'm sayin'.
 
Why did they have to stop at 10GB? this would probably save me some money, except 10GB isn't enough for 3 smartphones when i use 7 or 8 a month myself.
 
rivera02 said:
Why did they have to stop at 10GB? this would probably save me some money, except 10GB isn't enough for 3 smartphones when i use 7 or 8 a month myself.
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Because bandwidth hogs are their sworn enemies. :D

This is also why they are resorting to trickery to winkle people like me out of grandfathered unlimited data plans.
 
Wizard Prang said:
My plan (1 smart+2 dumb phones) costs $120 a month. Their new idea involves me paying $180... no thanks.

And as we suspected, they are going to remove my grandfathered unlimited data plan if I take a discounted upgrade.

Gee, thanks a lot, Verizon!
Click to expand...

I'm with you,I have 1 smart phone,3 dumb phones. I think its going to cost a lot more if i understand it right. Does anyone know what are some good options,prepaid companies or other. No A.T.T.
 
I'm assuming if we're still under contract for unlimited data for $30, we'll keep that until our current contracts end. What I'm curious about is, do they still offer individual data plans? The $30 for 2GB, and the rest? I'd hope so, as it seems like kind of a ripoff to suddenly only be able to get 2GB for $60 as "shared" data when there's only one smartphone on your family plan.

Speaking of which, having looked at an article with the pricing structure for this, it doesn't really make much sense to me. $50 for 1GB? Let's say you have a family plan with two smartphones; wouldn't it make more sense to just get both their own individual data plan, so they both get their own 2GB for a total of $60? Not to mention, 2GB isn't really a lot. I use just under that on a monthly basis, and if the other phones on my family plan were upgraded to smartphones, we'd definitely exceed that. They should've started it off at, like, 5GB for $50.
 
New plan works for me. I currently pay $200 for 2 smartphones. With the new plan, I can get unlimited mins and text (I currently have 700 mins/500 texts) and 6 GBs data (more than we need) for $160. That saves me $40 per month.
 
This looks great... for families who want unlimited voice and/or messaging and have only basic phones or minimal data requirements.

I've previously laughed at people saying they use gigabytes of data per month. While I still wonder how anyone could really do that with 3G, we finally have 4G in my area and my data use has skyrocketed - not because 4G uses more data, but because I'm doing things now that on 3G didn't work well enough to be bothered with (streaming recorded TV shows from my home server).

Knowing these plans were on their way, I installed data monitoring apps of all of our phones - mine being the only one with a data plan, with the others being Wifi-only. During the first month, my oldest son used about 200MB of data (comparable to my pre-4G mobile data usage), but the middle one used over 6GB. This level of usage has me hesitant to switch to one of these new plans (planning on enabling mobile data on all the phones).
 
MRW1215 said:
I'm assuming if we're still under contract for unlimited data for $30, we'll keep that until our current contracts end. What I'm curious about is, do they still offer individual data plans? The $30 for 2GB, and the rest? I'd hope so, as it seems like kind of a ripoff to suddenly only be able to get 2GB for $60 as "shared" data when there's only one smartphone on your family plan.

Speaking of which, having looked at an article with the pricing structure for this, it doesn't really make much sense to me. $50 for 1GB? Let's say you have a family plan with two smartphones; wouldn't it make more sense to just get both their own individual data plan, so they both get their own 2GB for a total of $60? Not to mention, 2GB isn't really a lot. I use just under that on a monthly basis, and if the other phones on my family plan were upgraded to smartphones, we'd definitely exceed that. They should've started it off at, like, 5GB for $50.
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They will still have the individual data plans, like their current structure.

I wonder what the overage charge will be if you go over. I am going to assume $10 per GB, but it would be nice if they do just an additional $10 per 2GB, like their plan ramps up. At least then data overages won't be nearly as catastrophic to line charges as minute and text overages have been to some people in the past.

This new plan is a huge savings for people who need unlimited minutes, but don't use a lot of data.

4 lines, unlimited minutes, smartphones using 1.5-2GB per month...

Currently 119.99 + 49.98/line over 2 = 219.95 + 30*4 = 339.95/month.
New plan = 40*4+90 = $250/month.

But for most two line family plans, especially those of us who use very few minutes, its a slight increase. It could still be valuable if you also have tablets on their network, as $10 per month is not bad to gain access for that too, assuming you don't shoot over your limit.
 
Well, looks like my bill goes up.

Current- 700 minute family plan with 2 lines (mine and my wife's). That 69.98. Call it $70. My unlimited plan for my Razr Maxx and a 2 GB plan for my wife's iPhone. That's $60. Total - $130.

New - 2 smart phones @$40 each is $80. 4 GB data is $70. Total $150.

That's a $20/month increase unless I've done something wrong.

I also have a 250 text message plan that I will dump. Plus, I have a 20% discount from work. Still, the base price is a $20 increase to keep the same service.
 
UncleMike said:
I've previously laughed at people saying they use gigabytes of data per month. While I still wonder how anyone could really do that with 3G
Click to expand...

I have 4G disabled on my Thunderbolt and used 3GB last month by myself. How? Downloading ROMs via ROM Manager, using Pandora and Netflix.
 
I believe you can add unlimited amounts of data in 2GB increments for an additional $10 each based on what I am seeing... So if you wanted 20GB, would be $150 per month in the data bucket, etc.
 
This means our plan of 2 Smartphones (unlimited @ about 5+GB total/month), 1 dumbphone (no data), 1 USB stick (5GB) will increase at least $30 per month and that's only if we didn't use more than a shared 5GB per month which we certainly have over the past year.

$30-40 per month over 2 years gives me enough to purchase unsubsidized smartphones off ebay/craigslist and I keep unlimited data. Glad I just renewed my contract with 2 new Razr Maxx-es.

Thanks but no thanks Verizon, I don't think I'll be "sharing" anymore of my hard earned dollars with you!
 
I just want to say I am super disappointed in this new pricing system. VZW just put on their sticky gloves and are looking for donation buckets to grab around in.

That being said I noticed something funny, the data prices are actually quite reasonable (if we assume tiered data is inevitable), BUT THE FORCED UNLIMITED MINUTES is gonna cost everyone big.

Add a tablet to the line for $10 not bad
Add a dumbphone for $30 !!!! WTF that is up from $10 per dumbphone on a current family plan.
Add a smartphone for $40 (makes sense combine the data $10 and voice $30)

Given this it looks like they just swapped the current prices on my family plan $29.99 for data on a line, $10 for each no line, to $30 for each new line, $10 for data on a line.

I'm going to call it now the only people who will save money with this are ones already paying the ridiculous premium for unlimited minutes. Not all of us want that.


If VZW had done any sort of simple addition of shared data to the current family plan structure I would have been happy, but the completely reworked the entire family share plan structure to gouge us out of money (unlimited talk automatically included, tether plan automatically included) those are two things that used to be PREMIUM OPTIONS, that they are now trying to force everyone to pay for whether we use it or not. Sharing is okay but forced consumption of stuff I dont want is not.

end rant/
 
Longtime lurker.. First time poster..

Why is there a difference in price for data for the phone plan and the data only plan? Isn't data the same no matter the device that is using it?
 
alanakastitchy said:
Longtime lurker.. First time poster..

Why is there a difference in price for data for the phone plan and the data only plan? Isn't data the same no matter the device that is using it?
Click to expand...

Those are meant to be combined. You pay a device charge for each device you have, and then add the data bucket charge.
 
AntimonyER said:
Those are meant to be combined. You pay a device charge for each device you have, and then add the data bucket charge.
Click to expand...


Wait.. so the phone data and the other devices get separated?

So..

2 Smart Phones: 80
4 GB Data for phones: 70
2 Tablets: 20
4 GB Tablet Data: 30

That really sucks if that is the way it is going to work... Shouldn't all of the devices be lumped together in one bucket? Still doesn't explain why phone data is more expensive than my tablet's data...
 
alanakastitchy said:
Longtime lurker.. First time poster..

Why is there a difference in price for data for the phone plan and the data only plan? Isn't data the same no matter the device that is using it?
Click to expand...

If you break down the pricing the data is actually cheaper per GB on the phone plans, since the price is somewhat subsidized by the exorbitant amount they charge for the force-fed unlimited minutes they offer.

Voice Only Plan:
Unlimited Talk and Text + 300 MB = $70

Combined Plan:
Unlimited Talk and Text + 1GB = $50 (.7 GB = -$20)
Unlimited Talk and Text + 2GB = $60 (1.7 GB = -$10)
Unlimited Talk and Text + 4GB = $70 (3.7 GB = $0)
Unlimited Talk and Text + 6GB = $80 (5.7 GB = $10)
Unlimited Talk and Text + 8GB = $90 (7.7 GB = $20)
Unlimited Talk and Text + 10GB = $100 (9.7 GB = $30)

Data Only Plan:
4GB = $30
6GB = $40
8GB = $50
10GB = $60

Where they really make their money is the per-phone charge in the new system:
Dumb Phone : $30
Smart Phone : $40
Tablet : $10
Hotspot/USB : $20

If you break down the phone and tablet pricing it is clear to see they are charging $30 to join in the unlimited minutes, and only $10 to join in the unlimited data which just seems ridiculous.

Dumb phones used to cost only $10 per line, and the first WAS FREE. No more with this plan thanks to force-fed unlimited minutes.
 
alanakastitchy said:
Wait.. so the phone data and the other devices get separated?

So..

2 Smart Phones: 80
4 GB Data for phones: 70
2 Tablets: 20
4 GB Tablet Data: 30

That really sucks if that is the way it is going to work... Shouldn't all of the devices be lumped together in one bucket? Still doesn't explain why phone data is more expensive than my tablet's data...
Click to expand...

The way you think it SHOULD work, is the way it DOES work (I believe). These new plans are really confusing and annoying, and I think way over-priced and unfair. see my previous rants.


That being said I read the detailed PDF as saying we have 3 options:

1) Plan with only dumb phones
2) Plan with only tablets/usbs/net PCS
3) Joint Plan

Each has their own set of charges and data buckets, and options.

But if you have a dumb phone, a smart phone, and a tablet, they will all fall under one joint plan, with one data bucket shared among them.

I hope this helped :D
 
One thing to remember is that Verizon is not doing away with the tiered minute plans. On the unlimited minute plans, VZW charges 49.99 per line, not 9.99, so they actually dropped the price of their unlimited family plan with this.

As far as data, all devices use the same bucket of data, so for two smartphones, two tablets, and 4GB data will be 40+ 40+ 10+ 10+ 70 = $170
 
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