Verizon has announced plans to offer new, simpler data plans, and kill subsidies. The new plans, kicking off on August 13, will require customers to pay for their smartphones in monthly installments, or buy them outright, with no subsidies being offered.
Similar to the Simple Choice plans launched by T-Mobile a couple of years back, the data plans come in four tiers: small, medium, large and extra large. Those plans will get you buckets with 1GB, 3GB, 6GB or 12GB of data for $30, $45, $60 or $80 respectively. Every plan will include unlimited calling and texting, but customers will have to pay a flat-rate access fee for each device on the plan. Smartphones cost $20 each while tablets and hotspots cost $10 and other, smaller devices like smartwatches will cost $5 each. (No more varying access fee depending on plan cost.)
With no subsidized phone, customers won’t be tied to a specific length contract for data. Customers will be allowed to change to a different data plan whenever they like. Good to know when Verizon’s data overage fee runs $15 per GB when you run over your monthly data allowance.
While More Everything plan customers will be able to switch to the new plans once they go into effect, those still in contract will be required to pay their current access fee until the contract is up. They will then be allowed to switch to the lower $20 fee for their smartphones.
