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Help Unlimited Data with the Bionic?

D

Drayken

Newbie
Do you guys think you will get unlimited data with the Bionic, or any 4G phone? I know when ATT customers had unlimited, and then ATT went to a cap, that current customers were grandfathered in. But do you think it will work like that for these 4G phones? Or, since they are different phones, they will simply leave 3G at unlimited, and cap 4G..

Reason I ask, is that I am still trying to decide if I should get locked into a plan now, even though I wanted to wait for a LTE phone. I would definitely sign up now, if I knew I would be grandfathered with the unlimited.
 
nickkourpias said:
I know I saw that 4G will be capped at up to 10 gigs a month. As far as I know 3G will be unlimited
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Are you able to link to where you read that? 10gigs? For anyone other than the extreme, wouldn't that be more than enough? (I have never owned a smart phone) Most of my friends have said they rarely get to 2gigs.
 
Verizon hasnt said anything about lte phone data. ANYTHING you hear bfore they do is speculation. Lte modems have the exact same cost/usage as 3g modems. No reason to think phones will be any differant. But, this is jut me speculating. Only time will tell.
 
I sure hope they don't get rid of the unlimited date packages. My Droid has become my primary source for the internet, so I'm using at least 1gb a month, often more.
 
I spoke to Verizon rep who told me that the 3G unlimited smartphone $30 plan will be the same for 4G LTE phones, I hope that was not just speculation. If 4G LTE costs anymore I'm sticking with my DX.
 
Calais79 said:
I spoke to Verizon rep who told me that the 3G unlimited smartphone $30 plan will be the same for 4G LTE phones, I hope that was not just speculation. If 4G LTE costs anymore I'm sticking with my DX.
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LOL, the rep I talked to, said she had no idea. I agree with the one post above, all speculation. And since it is all a guess, I will throw in mine. I doubt they will raise the prices, but I do think they will put limits/cap. But it sure seems like most people use under 2gigs anyways. Ofcourse, they will wait till they get a whole bunch of iPhone users that have the cap on ATT, get them to switch to verizon with unlimited, and then they will go to the tiered system. If I were a business, that's what i would do. :rolleyes:
 
Drayken said:
LOL, the rep I talked to, said she had no idea. I agree with the one post above, all speculation. And since it is all a guess, I will throw in mine. I doubt they will raise the prices, but I do think they will put limits/cap. But it sure seems like most people use under 2gigs anyways. Ofcourse, they will wait till they get a whole bunch of iPhone users that have the cap on ATT, get them to switch to verizon with unlimited, and then they will go to the tiered system. If I were a business, that's what i would do. :rolleyes:
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Sprint charges more for 4g than 3g. Not only that, but anyone who has a 4g phone must pay for the 4g data, even if you don't have it in your area. I can guarantee Verizon will not be much different. 4g is supposed to cost around $15 more. They have to make their money back somehow, seeing as how it cost them great deals to get 4g going.
 
mb01 said:
Sprint charges more for 4g than 3g. Not only that, but anyone who has a 4g phone must pay for the 4g data, even if you don't have it in your area. I can guarantee Verizon will not be much different. 4g is supposed to cost around $15 more. They have to make their money back somehow, seeing as how it cost them great deals to get 4g going.
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Agree and I heard that as well from engadget. Lte means HD youtube, which means way more data. I don't stream hd youtube while on 3g because usually only getting .7MBps. Takes forever to load. I have to imagine others do the same. With more bandwidth comes more data.plus, 4g can bring speeds acceptable to me to remove home internet. So I'm hoping for a large cap.
 
If that is the case, 4G LTE costs more than my unlimited 3G $30/month, I will be sticking with my Droid X on 3G for as long as I can. Honestly, a Droid X on Verizon's 3G/wifi and overclocked at 1350Mghz is as fast a phone/network I need. The dual-core and 4G LTE will not really be worth the phone cost and increased monthly cost IMO.

I wish Verizon would read posts like this and just grandfather unlimited smartphone data plans like mine @$30/month in for 4G LTE and relize that what money they would lose on those of us grandfathered in paying extra per month they would most certainly recoupe with use buying new phones instead of sticking with our previous generation... The only way I'm buying a Bionic is if I can afford the data plan, and I can't afford a penny over the $30/month I'm paying.
 
I also think that VZW will charge extra for 4G LTE phones on top of $30 unlimited 3G. I can only afford up to extra $10 just like Sprint. But if they raise it more than that, I will look at other carriers for my next phones.
 
Calais79 said:
If that is the case, 4G LTE costs more than my unlimited 3G $30/month, I will be sticking with my Droid X on 3G for as long as I can. Honestly, a Droid X on Verizon's 3G/wifi and overclocked at 1350Mghz is as fast a phone/network I need. The dual-core and 4G LTE will not really be worth the phone cost and increased monthly cost IMO.

I wish Verizon would read posts like this and just grandfather unlimited smartphone data plans like mine @$30/month in for 4G LTE and relize that what money they would lose on those of us grandfathered in paying extra per month they would most certainly recoupe with use buying new phones instead of sticking with our previous generation... The only way I'm buying a Bionic is if I can afford the data plan, and I can't afford a penny over the $30/month I'm paying.
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Carriers don't make any money from the phones they sell, even at full price. Their pay is from the monthly charges. Why do you think they subsidize the price of phones by as much as $400 on new contracts and upgrades? Because they're making all the money from you being contracted with them, paying monthly. They don't give a crap about the phones. And I think you're forgetting the majority of people on Verizon are currently on 3g data plans, meaning they would all have to get grandfathered in, meaning VZW would not make a damn thing from their 4g service that they no doubt paid hundreds of millions to build and implement, which is still being built btw. Aside from all this, they still have to worry about putting money in their pockets as well. People forget the service we get for these phones are amenities and bonuses, not necessities. Therefore, you will be charged as such.
 
mb01 said:
Sprint charges more for 4g than 3g. Not only that, but anyone who has a 4g phone must pay for the 4g data, even if you don't have it in your area. I can guarantee Verizon will not be much different. 4g is supposed to cost around $15 more. They have to make their money back somehow, seeing as how it cost them great deals to get 4g going.
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Actually sprint is starting to charge the $10 fee to all smartphones on Jan 30 not just 4G phones. And it will cost to roll out LTE but almost everything I have read data over LTE is cheaper and we are talking much cheaper than 3G.
 
Im sure verizon will tier it when it comes to 4g I remember a little while back the CEO said they were thinking about offering more data at somewhat slower speeds for cheaper or less data at faster speeds for more. Personally I would be fine with a little bit slower data as long as I was getting more of it
 
Calais79 said:
I spoke to Verizon rep who told me that the 3G unlimited smartphone $30 plan will be the same for 4G LTE phones, I hope that was not just speculation. If 4G LTE costs anymore I'm sticking with my DX.
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This is the complete opposite of what I've heard. The son of one of my coworkers is a Verizon sales rep and he told me just this past week that there has been talk of both capped data for 4G AND a price increase ($50 a month is the figure floating around according to him). He said the $50 figure he's hearing is an "only option" idea for 4G - meaning there wouldn't be tiered plans for 4G where you could choose to have less data per month and pay less. Basically, you'll pay $50 per month for 4G or you'll have to stick with your 3G device. He also said he has no idea what the cap for data would be, but if this is true he'd expect it to be around 5GB per month.

None of this is fact. He stated that he's gotten no official word from Verizon about any of this and all of this is essentially innner-office speculation and very well could be rumors run rampant. But it sounds like the Thunderbolt will be arriving in mid-February, so we'll know the answers to these questions soon enough.
 
Rodeojones said:
This is the complete opposite of what I've heard. The son of one of my coworkers is a Verizon sales rep and he told me just this past week that there has been talk of both capped data for 4G AND a price increase ($50 a month is the figure floating around according to him). He said the $50 figure he's hearing is an "only option" idea for 4G - meaning there wouldn't be tiered plans for 4G where you could choose to have less data per month and pay less. Basically, you'll pay $50 per month for 4G or you'll have to stick with your 3G device. He also said he has no idea what the cap for data would be, but if this is true he'd expect it to be around 5GB per month.

None of this is fact. He stated that he's gotten no official word from Verizon about any of this and all of this is essentially innner-office speculation and very well could be rumors run rampant. But it sounds like the Thunderbolt will be arriving in mid-February, so we'll know the answers to these questions soon enough.
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Ill stick with my unlimited 3g if they want to charge $50 a month that is ridiculous. I mean Verizon already makes enough money and im sure if they change it in a few years there will be an unlimited plan for around $30ish a month I mean look a few years back unlimited data and texting was unheard of when 3g was first out. Im sure it will be the same with 4g once it is more readily available
 
I'm sure people will pay anything for the best. I am paying a car payment to VZW and that's it. IF VZW wants more, at the risk of loosing coverage, I'll have to switch. My only hope is that enough people have more common sense then money and VZW will regress. This year will be a game changer for me. One way or the other.
 
Crude said:
I'm sure people will pay anything for the best. I am paying a car payment to VZW and that's it. IF VZW wants more, at the risk of loosing coverage, I'll have to switch. My only hope is that enough people have more common sense then money and VZW will regress. This year will be a game changer for me. One way or the other.
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Agree the only way verizon is going to change is if people stop paying and jump carriers. I know the new phones verizon is getting are nice but if you remember sprint had the EVO first and they continue to improve their phone lineup. I know tmobile sucks in most areas with service but for me if they would spend a little money and increase their network coverage I would jump in a heartbeat. To save 40+ dollars a month and have an awesome 4g phone would be worth it but until they change I will stick with my 3g and unlimited data.
 
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