Permanent end to Unlimited data.

[smaruska]

Of course this is going to happen, that is why I think it is idiotic to pay $600+ for a new phone to keep unlimited data.  You are off contract people, this means that in about a year when it is very close to the time when the very last unlimited data contracts will be up, they are GOING to pull the plug.  I'd expect an announcement within the year with a date and there will be nothing anyone can do about it because the materially adverse clause only applies to those under contract.  For someone like me who has been deployed for months and is about to come back to the states (and LTE just deployed by my house), I'm going to find a new/lightly used Stratosphere on evilbay/CL and ride out the rest of my wife/kid's contracts which end March 2014 which is likely a few months before unlimited data ends for everyone.  At that point I am jumping ship for Sprint, I've already decided.  They have blanket coverage in NJ where I live and their LTE rollout should be substantial by Spring 2014.  So yeah you can spend $600-$800 and if you are lucky you'll get a little over a year's use of unlimited before you are forced to tiered if you want to stay with VZW.  I still have no idea why ppl are staying with VZW except for the size of their network, it isn't like you can actually take advantage of LTE speeds on a tiered plan seeing as at LTE speeds you can literally blow through your data allotment in 20 minutes.  The only reason I am is because the wife and kid still have unlimited contracts.  I even have half a mind to bail for Sprint on my own and make her line the primary but that would cost alot and her minutes to me would not be free. 

[silver6056]

I don't think it is CERTAIN to happen (just very likely), the reason being that VzW can make the decision whenever it wants (after June 2014 say).  

At any point, they can see how many people are still on unlimited and how much data they are using.  If the numbers are small enough, it may not be worth the effort, having to fight even meritless law suites etc.

In addition, Verizon is free to set the "Retail" price of the phone, especially where there is no direct competition (such as with the iPhone).  So if they tell you that you can keep unlimited if you pay full price for the 2014 Razr M-Star HD, which is now $1500, or you can get it on tiered for $299, well, you have the choice, and VzW will be able to maintain that "Yes, we still offer unlimited to those customers who want it."

[smaruska]

I'd bet good money it will happen in 2014 for sure.  Sprint is going to be a big problem for VZW though if they can get the LTE coverage to their current 3G footprint by the end of 2013 like they say and continue to offer unlimited data.  The icing on the cake for them is if they have enough spectrum to give boost/virgin access to the LTE as well.  They already gave boost/virgin the old Wimax network which is actually pretty good if anyone has ever used it.  Friend of mine still has an Epic 4G and he's got speedtests of over 10mbps in Philadelphia.  Not LTE speed but still much faster than 3G or HSPA+.

[jchad]

Certainly Brian, you don't believe that the company will be generous and just lift your caps to please.

[jchad]

I am not going to state my opinion, but I will state a fact.  If you do an internet search on Verizon-tethered-court then you may find the answer you are looking for regarding why Verizon wants to halt all unlimited data plans.  And don't think it has to do with loosing money.  For that, compare European vs US customer costs, but be ready for a shock.

[dimap52]

Compare European vs. US carriers? Cripes, I've been doing THAT for YEARS. But the winds of change along with the stink of American Corporate influence are happening even there, particularly in the UK, now that EE has started rolling out their LTE network. In short, from a European carrier executive at the last phone show in Barcelona, Spain. "We need to find out what they are doing and charge them." So the Europeans want to get into the content monitoring game and that doesn't bode good for the open "dumb pipe" network model that has been the bulwark of the European wireless business model.

But to this point, the difference in feature sets and pricing is indeed shocking. Oh, and Verizon has filed their appeal to overturn the FCC rules regarding blocking of apps and FCC ordering third-party tethering apps be allowed. Their case rests on the arguments that:

1 FCC has no constitutionality authority to enact such rules;

2 Verizon's First Amendment Rights to free speech are violated by these rules;

3 The rules are in and of themselves unconstitutional.

These arguments strike me as being totally spurious and without merit. I sincerely hope this appeal along with any subsequent appeals are overturned by the appellate courts. 

[smaruska]

First off I know there were data hogs using 100gb a month or some crazy number.  You ONLY get to that number by torrenting/tethering and using the phone as your dedicated modem.  And no VZW can't block tethering as much as they'd try.  If they catch you they can terminate your contract but for someone who knows what they are doing they won't get caught.  IMO, these data hogs are the reason unlimted went bye bye as a few bad apples always ruin the bunch.  I've talked to reps and other "power users" who don't torrent online with their phones and the most I've seen from someone who doesn't use the phone for torrents or a dedicated connection is about 12-15GB per month.  That is not hogging data, that is using LTE to its potential.  Giving us LTE and then making us cap out at 2GB without paying a ridiculous bill is stupid, why even have it.  That's like giving you a Ferrari and a gallon of gas to operate it with.  Like I said in another post on here, I will NOT upgrade to a subsidized phone on VZW again and I'm jumping to Sprint in 2014.  If Sprint drops unlimited too I'll either stay with VZW unsubsidized or I'll go prepaid.  By this time next year boost/virgin will either have the iphone 5 or the S3 (you can flash a S3 to boost right now yourself if you know what you are doing but no LTE on boost and no wimax on the S3 so no 4G at all).  As it is you can get a S2 for $350 straight up on boost with unlimited EVERYTHING and wimax access which is, again, pretty fast if you live in a big city that has it. 

Really if you look at VZW/ATT and then T-MO/Sprint... it is a pretty big disparity in price and business practices.  T-Mobile is doing great things with their prepaid and they've had fast as all heck HSPA+ over their ENTIRE footprint and they give you 5GB right off the bat and then unlimited throttled data after that which is not bad.  Sprint does unlimited no throttling but their 3G is slow and their LTE is a good 14-18 months from being built out if they stay on schedule.  ATT/VZW both have terrible plans, terrible customer service and their advantage of having the best phones is gone.  The only thing you really get right now is the voice coverage over almost all of the country and if you are fortunate enough to still be on unlimited VZW LTE you get that but for how long who knows.

I really do have no clue why anyone would renew with VZW, I really don't.  I understand staying on and paying out of pocket to keep the unlimited becasue they do currently have the best network but not renewing... in almost every situation it costs more although I do know some ppl save money, generally ppl on 2 phone plans who don't use much data.  I've even encountered resistance among family/friends when I say "just switch to Sprint or Tmobile" when they are shopping for a new phone, like incredulous looks like I suggested they kill a relative or something...   I dunno, whatever, not my money.  You switch and you keep your number, you get a better plan in minutes/texts as well as unlimited data, its cheaper, they have all the same phones, (IMO, Sprint has always had the best phones minus the iphone which was ATT only forever anyway).  Sorry this turned into a Sprint fanboyish post and a VZW rant but I'm really fed up right now with VZW.  I still do have the option to jump ship to Sprint myself and make my wife's line the primary but that would pretty much negate the cost and if I can get a new Stratosphere from ebay for under $200 I'll be content for now I guess...

[smaruska]

Very well said and yes it is all about corporate greed and I'm glad you've actually done research to back up your arguements.  In the end all the "big two" (vzw and att) care about is the bottom line.  They only care about customers as to not piss them off enough so they start to leave which alot of us ARE going to do if there are better optionsn (there are 2 or 3 better options at least where I live).  As I said in a previous post, for some reason people with one carrier are almost fanatically loyal to it even if it is terrible.  Anyone still on ATT seriiously needs to be looked at for mental issues now that the iphone is on two other big carriers AND a prepaid and staying on VZW is not much better.  Obviously if ATT or VZW are the only companies whre one can get reception that is one thing, but I live in a state that is BLANKET coverage by all 4 carriers and even Metro PCS has pretty substanital coverage here...  and Cricket lol.  And people are still, for no apparent reason, fanatically loyal to ATT or VZW, especially VZW.  Arguements are "well all my friends have it", yeah if you have Sprint your calls to ANY mobile network are free unless you aren't roaming and since you have unlimited unthrottled data you can use Groove IP to call land lines over the data connection and not worry about going over.  One person at my work was off contract right when the iphone 4S came out for Sprint and had the choice to go with any of the 3 carriers with it and she went with ATT (because I can surf and talk at the same time :|)  yeah...

I guess what I am saying is that the greed of ATT/VZW is becoming really apparent.  At least VZW is trying to make it look like they are trying to make it fair while ATT is just blatantly screwing its longtime loyal customers with throttling and whatnot.  I dunno I think someone who was an ATT customer, stuck with them through Cingular and kept on trucking should be entitled to some extra perks for loyalty but nope.  Other companies like Sprint/Tmobile/prepaids that aren't quite as developed have to compete with better prices, plans and service which you get with them right now.  Anyone with T-Mobile has enjoyed reliable and very fast HSPA+ "4G" for years now as an example and they are still cheaper than anyone else.

[#9]

jchad wrote:

Certainly Brian, you don't believe that the company will be generous and just lift your caps to please.

Certainly you don't believe the caps will still be what they are 20 years for now either? You see things change.

Cost per GB

2012  $5 per GB( after 2 GB )

2010 $10 per GB

2008 $51.20 per GB

2006 $512 per GB

You seeing a trend? I am.

[#10]

smaruska wrote:

First off I know there were data hogs using 100gb a month or some crazy number.  You ONLY get to that number by torrenting/tethering and using the phone as your dedicated modem.  And no VZW can't block tethering as much as they'd try.  If they catch you they can terminate your contract but for someone who knows what they are doing they won't get caught.  IMO, these data hogs are the reason unlimted went bye bye as a few bad apples always ruin the bunch.  I've talked to reps and other "power users" who don't torrent online with their phones and the most I've seen from someone who doesn't use the phone for torrents or a dedicated connection is about 12-15GB per month.  That is not hogging data, that is using LTE to its potential.  Giving us LTE and then making us cap out at 2GB without paying a ridiculous bill is stupid, why even have it. 

Well until Verizon gets all these hogs off their network they are not going to raise the caps. They cant do that until they end unlimited data for everyone. I'm sure they are going to wait util everyone that has unlimited is out of contract which means June 29th 2014 at the earliest. Also once they start using that spectrum they bought from the cable companies and they have enough devices on their network that can use that spectrum I think they'll offer higher caps. Further down the road when they refarm 1X and 3G spectrum for 4G they can up the caps even more.