Verizon To Disconnect Unlimited Data Customers Who Use Over 100GB/Month 422
Verizon Wireless customers who have an unlimited data plan and use significantly more than 100GB a month will soon be disconnected from the network unless they agree to move to limited data packages that require payment of overage fees. Ars Technica reports: Verizon stopped offering unlimited data to new smartphone customers a few years ago, but some customers have been able to hang on to the old plans instead of switching to ones with monthly data limits. Verizon has tried to convert the holdouts by raising the price $20 a month and occasionally throttling heavy users but stopped that practice after net neutrality rules took effect. Now Verizon is implementing a formal policy for disconnecting the heaviest users.In a statement, Verizon said: "Because our network is a shared resource and we need to ensure all customers have a great mobile experience with Verizon, we are notifying a very small group of customers on unlimited plans who use an extraordinary amount of data that they must move to one of the new Verizon Plans by August 31, 2016." a Verizon spokesperson told Ars. "These users are using data amounts well in excess of our largest plan size (100GB). While the Verizon Plan at 100GB is designed to be shared across multiple users, each line receiving notification to move to the new Verizon Plan is using well in excess of that on a single device." FYI: The 100GB plan costs $450 a month.
Glad (Score:5, Insightful)
to finally have found out the limit of unlimited!
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I know you're just joking, but they are giving unlimited. Now they're saying "we aren't going to give you unlimited anymore and we aren't going to charge you anymore." This is a lot more reasonable and totally different from "we're calling it unlimited but not giving you unlimited," which is what the cable companies do.
Reaching the limits of the unlimited (Score:3)
Yes-- according to Verizon, "unlimited" has its limits.
The point is, if you get cut off after reaching a limit... it really isn't unlimited, is it?
I really do hope somebody hits them hard for false advertising [cornell.edu]
Re: (Score:3)
They'll just claim that 'unlimited' doesn't mean what 'unlimited' means, it means something else.
Re: (Score:3)
I think that what they are doing is merely terminating the contracts of possibly unprofitable customers. These customers are on monthly contracts, which can be terminated by either party.
Although, what if they have equipment purchases still being paid off? I guess Verizon is going to have to eat that cost.
Re:Reaching the limits of the unlimited (Score:5, Informative)
Yes-- according to Verizon, "unlimited" has its limits.
"Unlimited" comes with a caveat: common sense.
Personally I'd rather have that caveat than pay extra to support the 0.01% of the people that consume 1000x more resources than everyone else.
I really do hope somebody hits them hard for false advertising [cornell.edu]
Nope. If you are a subscriber, you do have unlimited data. These people are no longer subscribers. Verizon isn't offering them a service any longer, and they aren't paying for it. Business transaction complete.
The problem with relying on common sense is that it's not that common and what seems perfectly reasonable to one person "The only reason I signed up for Verizon was because they offered an unlimited plan that I could use to stream videos to my mountain retreat", may be unreasonable to someone else.
That's why we have truth in advertising laws -- if you lease someone a car with "unlimited mileage" included, you can't charge them extra (or take back their car) when they put 300,000 miles on it in a year. Unlimited has a very clear meaning.
Re: (Score:3)
"Unlimited" comes with a caveat: common sense.
That's certainly true. "Unlimited" should always be understood to include "but don't be a dick".
However, if my math is right, 100 GB/month is just 38 kB/s sustained, or ~300 kb/s. That's a bit more than modem speeds, which is nice, but it somehow doesn't seem to be a dickish level of overuse in the modern world.
Re:Reaching the limits of the unlimited (Score:5, Insightful)
So being "a dick" now is using a paid for service as advertised? ISPs should have no trouble delivering their advertised speeds 24x7 and if you paid for "unlimited" you should be able to max out that connection 100% of the time. Companies cant just redefine words and then shame or guilt people into their "marketing speak" basterdization of basic english words.
There are truth in advertising laws for a reason. This is straight up false advertising / fraud on the part of that ISP.
How hard is it for them to say "100gb a month plan" instead of unlimited? All ISPs give actual rates in canada that I am aware of. eg http://www.shaw.ca/internet/pl... [www.shaw.ca] Take a look, you can clearly see all the caps you get at every tier.
But maybe our consumer protection laws are stronger than yours, I don't know.
As they always say on the bus ads: Creativity is subjective, but the truth isn't.
http://www.adstandards.com/en/... [adstandards.com]
Re: (Score:3)
What you meant to write was:
Personally I'd rather have that caveat than hurt Verizon's profits to support the 0.01% of the people that consume 1000x more resources than everyone else
its pretty rich to think that these "very few" customers have any material effect on what you pay or even the quality of your service.
Re: (Score:3)
a) Most of these things fall under contract law. If I have to sign up a 2y contract, they shouldn't be able to just change it halfway through. That's what's happening here though, they have a contract which they're failing to abide by.
You are confused. That's not what's happening at all. Their 2-yr contracts are expired. They are month-month plans. V didn't even terminate mid-month. They just didn't offer the option to renew at the end of the month.
So basically... (Score:5, Interesting)
"Unlimited" to Verizon means "unlimited as long as you use less than 300 kilobits per second continuously". Which just happens to be almost exactly the minimum bandwidth for a Skype video call. Ponder that for a moment.
Re:So basically... (Score:5, Interesting)
The important term here is not "Unlimited", it is "Out of Contract". If you haven't signed a recent contract with Verizon and are just paying month to month on a grandfathered plan, they can cut your service at any time. Well, there may be regulations on how much notice they need to give, but apparently it isn't a long notice period.
The only reason Verizon has kept these grandfathered users this long is because they were hoping regulations would allow them to throttle or otherwise limit usage. They were unsuccessful at that, so cancelling service is the natural alternative.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:So basically... (Score:4, Interesting)
Sure, I'll ponder that for a moment, then point out that you seem to think there are people that literally [merriam-webster.com] Skype 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months every year, never stopping to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, etc. I suspect many/most customers lead more balanced lives then that.
Re: (Score:2)
Skype doesn't somehow disconnect the call if it detects you walk away from the desk, dude. Also I'm sure there *have* been at least a few people who left their Skype on continuously for a week or something, reality show-style.
Why are we even arguing about this? The GP's point was that the rate was ridiculously low, not that the example itself was a dumb use case.
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, I'll ponder that for a moment, then point out that you seem to think there are people that...Skype 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months every year, never stopping to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, etc. I suspect many/most customers lead more balanced lives then that.
Just to play devil's advocate... some tech-savy people could use their grand-fathered unlimited data plans to monitor home or business surveillance cameras 24/7 via Skype or a similar streaming program. I could also imagine a heavy torrents user tethering a computer to a phone with an unlimited data plan and easily exceeding Verizon's 100GB/month cut-off.
Re:So basically... (Score:5, Insightful)
People have got this really distorted view of how contracts work - where companies should not be allowed to screw you, but you're allowed to screw companies in perpetuity. When you signed up for the unlimited plan, Verizon agreed to it and you agreed to it for a x year contract (usually 2 years). When the contract was up, the plan continued as month-to-month. As the years passed, Verizon felt the plan was disadvantageous to them, but as a courtesy allowed you to keep it. They didn't have to, but in the interest of good customer relations they let you keep it. Now they've decided the drawbacks of that courtesy outweigh the benefits for them, and are adding a condition that if you use what they consider an excessive amount of data, they will not renew your outdated plan on a month-to-month basis.
Think of if the situation were reversed. Say you got a cell phone in the early days when service was $100/mo for just voice, and calls were $1/min. After your 2 year contract was up, you should be allowed to change to a better plan if you want, right? Well so can the other party in the contract. Both sides have the right to terminate a month-to-month contract at the end of the month for any reason they see fit. If you want the security of knowing the other side will not terminate your contract at the end of the month, you need to sign a year or multi-year contract with them which locks in your contract terms for that period of time. But the other party is under no obligation to give you the same contract terms (same plan) they gave you 5 years ago.
Re:So basically... (Score:5, Informative)
They can cut you off in the middle of a two-year contract. If you read the fine print, it isn't a guarantee of service, just a guarantee that you will keep paying them unless they choose to terminate the contract early.
Re: (Score:2)
Unlimited. You keep using that word. (Score:3, Insightful)
But I do not think it means what you think it means.
What does unlimited mean? And why do you get penalized if you actually use it as such?
Re: (Score:2)
But I do not think it means what you think it means.
What does unlimited mean? And why do you get penalized if you actually use it as such?
Verizon doesn't sign contracts guaranteeing unlimited data (they have in the past, but how is that relevant?). This is Verizon's final admission that they will no longer pretend they offer unlimited service. People complaining about these definitions should be happy about this. Verizon is finally being honest with their users and giving them a choice of contractual options Verizon is comfortable with.
Re: (Score:3)
What does unlimited mean? And why do you get penalized if you actually use it as such?
"Unlimited" means the exact same thing as "all you can eat." Which is to say that it is unlimited relative to a reasonably expected degree of consumption and within the bounds of what the provider considers to be the constraints of sharing a fixed amount of resources among multiple paying customers. If you go to the buffet and grab all the food before anyone else can eat it, and continue to do so until the restaurant's food is all gone, you can be pretty sure they are going to kick you out, regardless of ho
QL'EB? (Score:4, Funny)
Combifoutuien? Baise le pape!
If they didn't want unlimited use (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:If they didn't want unlimited use (Score:5, Insightful)
They no longer offer it.
And they also are under no obligation to allow out-of-contract users from continuing to use the old plan - which is exactly what they are doing here, telling the heaviest out-of-contract users to let up, move plan or Verizon will no longer do business with you.
Just as you don't have to do business with Verizon, once you are out of contract Verizon no longer have to do business with you - you aren't guaranteed or entitled to the same plan for the rest of eternity, only the duration of the contract.
Re:If they didn't want unlimited use (Score:5, Insightful)
So? That doesn't change the fact that other users are still on the plan, and Verizon is still describing it as "unlimited" to them, which is false advertising.
Re: (Score:3)
Well, it was unlimited while they allowed the grandfathered people on the plan to use it. Now that they're telling them they have to switch plans, to a plan they don't call unlimited, which will not be unlimited. I'm not sure you understand what false advertising means.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't see where the false advertising is. Want to use 200 GB during August? Fine, you can do that, just as advertised, and you'll pay the advertised price for it. But you won't be a customer of theirs in September.
Re: (Score:2)
They are not 'on a plan', as in 'contract'.
Verizon has ZERO obligation to do anything for you if you're off plan, not thing one.
Re: (Score:3)
Verizon has lots of obligations, including some to society in general (i.e., people who aren't even Verizon customers at all). Operating with good faith and fair dealing [thefreedictionary.com] is one of those obligations.
Re: (Score:2)
So? That doesn't change the fact that other users are still on the plan, and Verizon is still describing it as "unlimited" to them, which is false advertising.
Verizon's business is with the account holder. The other people may be receiving service, but the agreement is between VZW and the account holder.
Verizon hasn't sold "unlimited" plans for years. These people were on grandfathered plans.
Grandfathering isn't legally guaranteed, and Verizon can change their service offering at any time. But if they can change the service since there is no longer a contract, then the customer can cancel the service for the same reason.
Maybe Verizon deserves to have people stick
Re: (Score:3)
Certainly Verizon has the right to change the terms on grandfathered month-to-month plans whenever they see fit. I believe the issue is that they're doing so while continuing to call the plan Unlimited If they instead simply transferred all their Unlimited* plans to a newly created "100GB Bargain" plan, then there would be far less justification for calling them out. No doubt many would still call it a jerk move, but it would be an *honest* jerk move.
Re:If they didn't want unlimited use (Score:4, Insightful)
That has always been a shortsighted argument. They've stopped offering it, and just like you can cancel your mobile phone plan, they can too, and that's what they're doing. They are not denying you the service you pay for. They honor the contract as long as you have it, and soon you won't have it.
What you should be pointing out is that this is a market failure: Their service is outrageously overpriced, and volume pricing does not solve congestion. It's a money-grab. In a working market with a sufficient number of competitors, no company could ask those prices or segment the market in a way that is so removed from the technical necessities. Three or four competitors might be enough with heavy-handed regulation, but not in the absence of it.
Re: (Score:2)
If you want unlimited, there are two carriers that offer it (TMobile and Sprint). Verizon's no longer choosing to do so. Don't see what that means there's a market failure here.
Re:If they didn't want unlimited use (Score:4, Insightful)
It IS unlimited. You can use as much as you want in the period you've paid for. How much you use does affect whether they decide they want to offer you an unlimited plan next month. Separate months, separate deals.
Re:If they didn't want unlimited use (Score:4, Informative)
As soon as they tied next month's usage directly to this months usage, they gave up the ability to call this month's usage unlimited.
And your car rental annalogy is exactly the same, if they can't make money on "unlimited" and don't want to sell it, then they should fix their fraudulent and deceptive marketing, not ban individuals who comply 100% with the rules as they were laid out to them.
Unlimited by definition means that there are no limits, not being able to renew if you do a certain thing is by it's very definition a limit.
Re: (Score:2)
If they didn't want unlimited use, they should never have offered it. It has pretty much always been a lie from many of these companies, and they should be fined for it. Unlimited with an asterisk defining the limitations of unlimited is not acceptable.
Verizon doesn't offer unlimited plans, and I don't believe offers contracts longer than two years so no grandfathered unlimited users are guaranteed service for any specified period of time.
It appears Verizon is finally admitting to the definition of unlimited data, and is adjusting their policies to be more honest about what service they are willing to offer. Obviously that does not include offering unlimited data anymore, even to grandfathered users.
Nice to see. . . (Score:2, Troll)
. . . .that contracts are one-way. Now, if **I** had unilaterally decided to walk on a Verizon cell contract mid-way, I'd be paying termination fees, etc.
Guess some Corporations are More Equal than the rest of us.
Not that it's really news. . . .
Re: (Score:2)
They're not walking out of a contract mid-way. These are overwhelmingly out of contract customers. Every month is a new deal, and Verizon's under no obligation to renew the deal for another month.
There may still be a very few under contract customers with unlimited and using over 100GB/month. In that case, so long as Verizon waives any ETF charges, so the customer is free to leave cost-free, Verizon's also in good shape.
Re: (Score:2)
Who is mid-contract here? Verizon stopped offering unlimited plans "a few years ago" which should put everyone on them comfortably out of contract - this is about out-of-contract users not voluntarily migrating to a different plan and being given an ultimatum.
Re: (Score:2)
If they change the terms you can just walk without any early termination fees, that's also in the contract.
I barely use 1GB a month as a power user, although I have a home data connection. Over the past three years DD-WRT tells me I'm using between 80 and 150 GB per month, peaking to ~250 once or twice. I have a hard time believing that those people using > 100GB/mo aren't within wifi range ever, and also won't invest in a land line to better meet their needs.
Re: (Score:2)
Last time I went on vacation, I blew through 1 GB a week on my data plan without doing any major downloads.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Sure but my home wifi is a verizon t1114 router with a unlimited sim its sitting at 133GB today and there are 23 days left on this cycle.
Why? Because the only alternative is satellite or dialup (or another cell provider).
If I could get a 10Mbps unmetered connection out here for $200/mo I would have that instead but no can be bothered to bring service out here.'
One of my 3 unlimited lines is actually still in contract through the end of september so we shall see how that goes.
Re: (Score:2)
I am sure that if you're in the middle of a long term contract with unlimited data use, Verizon will let you walk away with no penalty when this change comes into effect. But I would guess most unlimited users are in month to month contracts, and both they, and the company can terminate at any time. What surprises me is that both Verizon and AT&T allowed unlimited plans to be grandfathered in for so long.
Just to make it clear where I stand: I would love to have the option of a truly unlimited plan. I do
Re: 2-Way (Score:3)
FFS... They did many years ago... For a two year period only. After that those sticking around were on a month to month contract that wither could walk away from at anytime and for any reason.
I'm on Verizon and have an unlimited data plan (currently)... I also haven't been under contact with them for 4 years now... The entire time knowing that they could cancel my data plan.
Re: (Score:2)
They *are* two-way.
Obviously. All contracts are two-way, or else it's not legally a contract.
You're missing a little detail though. Both parties must get something out of the contract, but they may have completely different obligations.
They agreed to sell you unlimited bandwidth, if they don't you can sue them in court.
Since unlimited plans haven't been available for years now, everyone on an unlimited plan is grandfathered.
Verizon is not legally obligated to continue offering the same plan after the contract expires.
People have taken cell phone companies to small-claims court for violating these contracts and have won continuation of their service.
That can happen during the original contract term.
Once the contract expires, Verizon does not
Sue them for FRAUD (Score:5, Insightful)
/Oblg. You keep using this word "unlimited". It doesn't mean what you think it means
If Verizon is advertising their services as unlimited but it is not then it is fraud plain and simple.
But I guess accurately calling it Nearly Unlimited won't get as many suckers ^H^H^H customers as they want.
I hope they get sued.
--
Note to Redditards: The downvote button is NOT for disagreement but that "this post adds nothing interesting to the conversation."
Re:Sue them for FRAUD (Score:4, Informative)
Verizon actually are NOT advertising their plans as unlimited--that's exactly the point here, the people involved are grandfathered users from a time when Verizon DID advertise such a thing (largely before 4G deployments were of real size). What it looks like here is they are telling "unlimited" users, "if you use more than 100GB we're not going to do business with you under these terms." Given that 100% of these users are out of contract (that's how they're still on unlimited plans--they haven't signed a new contract) there's no legal problem here--Verizon will just terminate their service if the user doesn't switch plans.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'll never get notified of a reply, so hopefully I remember to come back and check, but why do you have a message to Reddiots on your sig? I mean this is /..
I'm guessing it's because there's a large swath of idiots who were never on /. in ye olde days but get mod points and like to mod things "troll or flamebait" if it's a post that hurts their feelings.
Re: (Score:2)
To be fair this post does actually add nothing to the conversation because it's entire premise is based on something that's not in fact true.
They probably keep getting modded down because they have a habit of doing this.
It is unlimited. (Score:3, Informative)
Their unlimited plan is unlimited. But if your unlimited usage is exceedingly high they can decide they don't want to sell you an unlimited plan anymore.
I know people who setup a wifi hotspot with their unlimited Verizon plan and then serve dozens of people on job sites for months on end uploading media and video. They're not normal users. I can understand why Verizon wouldn't want them anymore.
Similarly I use 10TB of backblaze for $50/year. I'm I imagine not-profitable. So I could understand if they told me that I have 2 months and then they don't want me as a customer anymore even though it's Unlimited. It's unlimited but not every unlimited customer is one they want. Maybe you go over one month and they allow you to spike for free. But I can see how a sustained money loser is not someone they are interested in keeping on. (Then again with backblaze I've converted numerous people to be customers and became a cloud storage customer at work so I imagine their generosity has paid off now.)
It is not unlimited. (Score:4, Insightful)
Their unlimited plan is unlimited. But if your unlimited usage is exceedingly high
By definition, a usage "exceedingly high" implies there is a limit. If there is no limit, you cannot exceed it.
If they don't want you to have multiple users on the plan or use it for business reasons, fine--put it in the terms. There are already ways of doing that without lying.
Re: (Score:3)
Remember, these are out of contract customers. Every month is a new deal. They're offering you unlimited use in August. If you go over 100GB, they won't renew your unlimited deal for September. So, August is accurately described as unlimited.
Re: (Score:2)
But they're still punishing you for actually using the service you both agreed to if they decide not to let you re-up the next month. Maybe it's technically legal but it's still sleazy.
Re: (Score:3)
Your latter metaphor is better, since both parties initially agreed on the dog being okay. If you were throwing loud parties, which you were explicitly allowed to do in your initial contract, then you should kind of be able to tell said neighbors to shove it.
Except that your contract has expired, so those "original terms" are in place only upon the goodwill of both parties (no pun intended). If one of those parties (the landlord) decides that making complaints from the neighbors go away is worth more than your continued tenancy, then no, you shouldn't be able to tell someone to shove it.
Are they still offering unlimited plans? Because this whole stupid thing was caused by them calling it that in the first place; now we're just looking at debris left over from that initial bad decision.
No, they're not. These are people who originally had "unlimited" plans but have been month-to-month customers since VZW discontinued those (and who VZW has elected to allow to
I am altering the deal (Score:5, Funny)
Pray I don't alter it any further.
- Someone's dad
This is the deal you originally signed up for (Score:2)
Verizon did not agree to give you unlimited data for $x/
0.002 (Score:2)
verizon sucks (Score:2)
This works out to (Score:2)
Try Upgrading (Score:4, Insightful)
"In a statement, Verizon said: "Because our network is a shared resource and we need to ensure all customers have a great mobile experience with Verizon, we are notifying a very small group of customers on unlimited plans who use an extraordinary amount of data that they must move to one of the new Verizon Plans by August 31, 2016.""
Try upgrading your networks. It's what every network admin worth their salt inevitably does, because it works. Traffic spike? Sure, trace it, maybe limit it if it's questionable or unwanted, block it if it's illegal, etc., etc. However, as a general rule, taxes will rise, as must network capacity -> anyone here complaining that 10/100 network is perfectly fast enough, and Gig-E is overkill, would be laughed at for eons. In a few years, 10 Gig-E, or 100 Gig-E will be the norm.
What more, if I remember correctly, Verizon has received kickbacks, tax reductions, etc. to help them finance upgrades for their networks so that this would never be an issue. I could check Verizon's financial performance over these past ten years, then look into their book-keeping (Hollywood accounting), but me thinks they have not been running at a loss. So...in the black + gifts from the US / State / Municipal governments + not upgrading their equipment = a lot of spare dosh. Has Verizon issued some dividends, or should we be looking at embezzlement charges?
At the very least, failure to use working capital correctly (maintaining / growing the business, by buying the equipment that allows them to keep / expand their dominance in their current area) is a failure of corporate duty, and a reason for someone to be fired.
Re: (Score:3)
At the very least, failure to use working capital correctly (maintaining / growing the business, by buying the equipment that allows them to keep / expand their dominance in their current area) is a failure of corporate duty, and a reason for someone to be fired.
Spending lots of excess money on capital equipment to add capacity to serve customers who don't pay you nearly enough to cover the investment you have to make to serve them is definitely a failure of corporate duty.
Re: (Score:2)
Then here's an idea: spend less on Executive pay, perks, mind-numbing advertising, monthly corporate junkets for yet again re-writing customer terms and conditions, attorney fees for fighting worker wages and suing the FCC, lobbying fees at state and federal capitols, and box seats at sports arenas, and re-invest all of that into providing a better product at a better price than its competitors.
But yeah, what's the fun in all that... it's more fun to get paid and go to exclusive bars and go Hey good lookin!
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, let's spend $1,863 billion upgrading the network to 40 times its capacity. Never mind all the cell phone signal on that limited spectrum; more towers in the same spectrum will fix it, somehow!
Polymath here with accounting, finance, and economics as side-interests. Verizon has a 7% average profit margin across its business. They've historically kept their ridiculously-high prices as low as they are by cheating the government (changing the definition of their operation, taking multi-hundred-billion-
Re:Try Upgrading (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Does that always work? Are 10 wifi access points in a building 10x faster in total than 1 access point?
Before doing so, do they do a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the upgrade is a better use of the company's money than spending it on something else?
Re: (Score:2)
anyone here complaining that 10/100 network is perfectly fast enough, and Gig-E is overkill, would be laughed at for eons. In a few years, 10 Gig-E, or 100 Gig-E will be the norm.
56k should be enough for user.
Duh? (Score:4, Insightful)
Well duh, isn't that the whole point of getting an unlimited data plan? Using more data than the capped ones?
Re: (Score:3)
They offered the unlimited plans when 3G phones were the norm. Those plans have been unavailable for a long time.
The 100 GB plan costs 5x what the old unlimited plan was. Mostly because of 4G and the prevalence of smartphones and streaming apps.
This will replace DSL in non fios areas (Score:2)
This will replace DSL in non fios areas as they profit big time with 100 GB at $375
Huh. (Score:2)
I received a phone call from the vzw loyalty team this morning they wanted to do an account review but as was on the way to work (talking on cellphones while driving is still legal here) I said not right now and they left it at that.
I suppose this must be what they wanted to talk about.
My home line is over 133GB this month and I still have 23 days left on this billing cycle. So I suppose i'll be switching to one of att's unlimited plans this month I figure that will run me about $2,000 to buy one but still
Business is Business (Score:2, Informative)
Look, there's nothing wrong with being a rational actor on both sides here. The original contract is over and every single person on one of these plans is month to month. A partnership or business relationship not otherwise restricted will only exist for as long as it makes sense for both sides.
You idiots abusing a shared resource have pushed Verizon into accepting a PR hit in exchange for not having to deal with your douchebaggery any more. So be it. This is why we can't have nice things.
Anyone who's ever
VZW is right in this case (Score:2)
OK, I am the first to say VZW is the worst, but in this case people can't complain. They were stupid enough to sell "unlimited" data, so they would now be in the wrong if they made the "unlimited" have a limit (yes, they would love to do just that of course), but instead they are just deciding it makes no financial sense to them to keep these customers on. Similar to how you decide VZW makes no financial sense to you and you drop them, a company can do the same (following the terms of the contract), the are
Unlimited! (Score:3)
So THIS explains how my Super was selling Internet to everyone in my building for $50 bucks a month (he called it the "grandfather plan"), and why the service crapped out whenever he took his mobile outside to take a phone call!
Those old plans are great... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
She was talking to someone while she was peeing or p...ewwww.....I hope just peeing...
She wasn't using her phone. It fell out of her pocket. She didn't elaborate on what she was doing on the shitter when her phone committed suicide by diving into the drink.
ludicrously low (Score:2)
I've downloaded 95GB since 11pm yesterday, purely because I happened to buy the latest Humble Bundle, which includes (amongst others) NBA 2K16 at over 44GB of downloadable game.
100GB per month? Per day, perhaps.
Wireless? (Score:2)
ie; cell phone usage.
Stop using your phone as a lifestyle (Score:2)
"a very small group of customers" (Score:3)
If it's really "a very small group of customers", why do Verizon care?
Sue them for fraud. (Score:2)
And when they claim data hog, show them European prices - they are MUCH MUCH cheaper than American.
PR! (Score:2)
I love these PR things where it's just flat out contradictory statements: such a small portion of people *but* they are causing such a big problem *but* if they pay more money the problem is solved.
Although, they must have a pretty good network if people can get over 100gb per month. On my provider that would probably take a year.
All You Can Eat... (Score:2)
All you can eat, should be all you can eat.
Yet, another failure of the federal trade commission.
Verizon can't handle it (Score:2)
Wireless is like Cable? (Score:2)
So you're saying wireless isn't as fast as wired and is like cable. Thanks for being honest Verizon. Now let's stop pushing this wireless crap down peoples throats and roll out some more fiber. Now stop preventing Google Fiber from competing and sell off you FIOS division so someone else can do it spread fiber since you won't do it.
Re:100gb? (Score:5, Informative)
Around the Nordic Countries, I'm able to get *truly* unlimited LTE for around $30/mo. Hurts to think of all the fellow nerds across the pond who have to pay themselves sick for something like this.
Deliberately misleading (Score:5, Insightful)
You are comparing apples to oranges.
Population density of Denmark: 130 persons per sq km.
Population density of USA: 35 persons per sq km.
He said "Nordic Countries", not "Denmark". It's not hard to understand why you would conflate those terms when we look consider the other Nordic population density numbers.
Population density of Sweden: 21.5 persons per sq km
Population density of Norway: 15.5 persons per sq km
Feel free to explain again how Manhattan's population density in not high enough to secure the sort of internet access pricing that people in Finland enjoy.
Re: (Score:2)
In 2005 you probably didn't have a phone even capable of decent world wide web access let alone a network that you could pass 100GB in one month.
Everyone had a phone capable of web access in 2005 (decent depends on your browser: windows mobile was ok), but you could also get an EVDO card that would give you acceptable data rates. Thinkpads had an option to have a card built into the laptop (bad idea, but it was available. I chose to have an external module instead).
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What was your phone 12 years old? IIRC the motorola talkabout had a wap browser back in 2000.
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Re:I must have been mistaken about the definition. (Score:5, Insightful)
Same as the US IRS's definition of voluntary... Unless you "volunteer" to pay "income tax", we will hound you/put you in jail... Thats their definition of "voluntary compliance"....
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Same as the US IRS's definition of voluntary... Unless you "volunteer" to pay "income tax", we will hound you/put you in jail... Thats their definition of "voluntary compliance"....
Yeah, I always liked that one, too...
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contract would have been "Unlimited" in data use but as far as duration they would only have had a minimum term, likely followed by monthly extensions. They are likely free to terminate ALL the Unlimited users if they wanted at this point but are choosing to only terminate those that they are losing significant money on. Seems like they are trying to be as customer focused as the economics allow them to be.
Re:Contracts? (Score:4, Insightful)
What do the contracts say?
Verizon hasn't offered unlimited plans for years, so all relevant contract terms have expired.
If they can't kick them off because the plans are obsolete, how can they kick them off with a retroactive policy?
To be clear, Verizon could disconnect everyone on an "unlimited plan" if they wanted to. The original contracts are all expired.
Technically, they would only have to wait until the end of the customer's billing cycle---since these plans are prepaid, the customer has already paid for this month's service.
I see popcorn and lawsuits.
Then you're hallucinating. Because they absolutely can do this.
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Who the fuck uses verizon anyway?
You're kidding, right? With 141.4 million subscribers as of May 2016, Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless telecommunications provider in the United States. [wikipedia.org]
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Verizon are adding insult to injury by resorting to such puerile tactics, that will fool very, very few of its customers, actual or otherwise.
Most Americans are not financially literate. If they were, they would recognized that there is no such thing as an "unlimited" resource, "unlimited" is a marketing term, and, sooner or later, "unlimited" has to come an end.
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