As 4G Seeps In, Verizon Offers Cheap(er) No-Contract 3G Plans

jfruh writes "U.S. Mobile companies are working hard to get customers on fancy high-speed LTE plans with expensive smartphones. But Verizon is shrewdly working to eke out profit from its older infrastructure as well. The company is offering no-contract pay-as-you-go 3G-only plans, which might appeal to those who don't use a lot of wireless data and who might want to take advantage of the glut of older Android and iOS phones available on the market." It's good to see prices dropping from one of the biggest names in the industry, but it seems there are some cheaper options already around, especially for unlocked phones or for people who don't need data.

Luls

[neminem]

60 dollars for 500mb of 3g data. I suppose that's cheap for verizon, the king of overcharging you, but considering MetroPCS and TMobile give you unlimited 3g for significantly less (along with potentially not-unlimited 4g), that's still pretty hilarious. Why would anyone pay more for less? It's not like verizon has better customer service (hah!) or even significantly better coverage.

(That said, I'm actually using a much smaller provider called Ting. It's not unlimited anything, but I'm on target to spend a whopping 15 bucks a month on phone service, including data (because I don't use very much data, or very much anything else.))

Re:GSM is a requirement for me now

[gstoddart]

I'm on something like my 4th or 5th cell phone in a decade, all with the same SIM.

Life is so much easier if your phone number and address book can be moved to a new device in a bout a minute.

I can definitely agree that GSM, for me at least, is the way to go.

Re:GSM is a requirement for me now

[CastrTroy]

I agree with this. I switched to a no-contract carrier a couple years ago, and I couldn't be happier. Sure I pay a little more for my phone up front, but I save quite a bit on my monthly bill. On my old carrier, I was paying over $50 a month, which didn't even include any data. Now I'm paying $30 a month for unlimited text, local calls, and data (slowed down after 5GB). At $20 savings a month the phone was paid for before the end of the first year. Plus if my phone breaks, I have the option of just buying a cheap phone to replace it. Carriers have way too much power over subsribers when they are in contracts. They should be illegal. People should pay for their phone up front and be able to switch phones or carriers at any time without incurring a charge.

Re:I'm still grandfathered in on Unlimited Data

[radiumsoup]

I'm on unlimited data still, but my wife is not, and we can't add a new phone to the plan without converting the ENTIRE family plan to the stupidly low total transfer cap. My only recourse, when my daughter gets old enough to get a phone (which is probably this year) is to start up a new contract for my wife and family, and keep my phone on my own plan... or, change to another provider with worse coverage. (I use data a lot for my business, and given the currently usury data prices Verizon charges, I can't be without unlimited data, but my wife uses very little.)

I figure if I don't convert, the more the Verizon bean counters will see that I'm not falling for the new scheme. I'm hoping that a large number of folks will do the same and eventually prompt Verizon to offer an unlimited data plan again, or at least charge a lot less than what they think is reasonable now. If coverage weren't an issue where I live, I'd switch providers and tell Verizon why.

Re:GSM is a requirement for me now

[RoboRay]

All of Verizon's LTE phones use SIM cards. If you upgraded to a 4G phone before the grandfathering of Unlimited plans was revoked (like I did), you can do everything you're talking about and still keep the unlimited 4G plan.