It’s become instinct to answer “I need a new phone” with “Well, when is your contract up?” for most people. However, that’s coming to an end at Verizon. The company will no longer offer their typical two-year contracts, or the subsidized phones that come along with it.
Under the old plans, you could get a new phone for a reduced price as long as you pledged to stay with the carrier for two years. Now, however, if you want a new phone, you’ll need to either buy it outright or sign up for a monthly payment plan. While this is generally good news (once you’ve paid off your phone, your bill goes down), it may affect how some people currently buy their phones.
In addition to the changes to how phones are subsidized, Verizon is also switching to a data bucket model for phone lines. Rather than signing up for single or family lines, you’ll pay for a shared bucket of data. These buckets come in the following sizes and prices:
Small: $30/month for 1GB
Medium: $45/month for 3GB
Large: $60/month for 6GB
X-Large: $80/month for 12GB
And yes, that’s actually what Verizon calls each tier. That pool of data is shared between all the devices on your plan. Of course, that charge is for the data itself. You also have to pay a fee to add a line to each plan. There’s no difference between single or family plan pricing, but the charges go up per device. The costs for each type of device are as follows:
$20 per smartphone.
$10 per tablet.
$5 per smartwatch.
Keep in mind that these fees are on top of any monthly payment plans for your device. That payment can vary by device, but it’s often in the range of $15-25 or so, depending on the value of the phone. So, for example, a single phone line with 3GB of data would cost around $85/month ($45 for 3GB data, $20 for access, $20 for phone). A plan with two phones under a payment plan and 6GB would cost around $140 ($60 for 6GB data, $40 for access, $40 for phones).
Since the data plans themselves operate on a month-to-month basis, you can upgrade or downgrade your data buckets each month. However, as Recode points out, going over your data allotment will cost a substantial $15 per gigabyte over your cap. Given that upgrading your data bucket itself (with the exception of the 12GB tier) costs the same and gives you more data for the money, it’s more costly to go over than it is to just pay for more upfront. A fact Verizon surely knows.
Verizon is doing away with contracts | The Verge
Photo by Mike Mozart.