The big US carriers have slowly been tightening the noose in order to drive users to more profitable tiered data plans. Until now, Verizon Wireless was good enough to allow existing customers to keep their unlimited data plans even when upgrading to 4G LTE handsets. Verizon’s CFO has finally dropped the bomb we’ve all been expecting: unlimited data on Verizon is about to go away.
Big Red will no longer allow users to buy new 4G LTE phones without moving to a capped data plan. This change will come in conjunction with the move to a new series of “data share plans.” These are, of course, the family data plans we’ve been promised for years. They will let those on a family plan to share buckets of data like they already can for minutes.
Verizon killed unlimited data plans for new customers last summer, but that still left millions of users with those reasonably-priced unlimited plans. Verizon always said the situation might change, but that probably won’t do anything to stem the flow of complaints. It is Verizon’s intention to get everyone on a data share plan, which Verizon’s CFO praised as “beneficial” to the carrier.
There is no firm date for the rollout of the new plans which will signal the end of unlimited data for existing customers. The new plans are expected sometime around the middle of summer, so there is still time for an upgrade. If you pick up a 4G device before then, you will probably get 2 years of unlimited data. However, the next time you upgrade, get ready for capped plans. The alternative is to live on 3G for as long as possible, but eventually all phones will be LTE.
via Cnet
