On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved rules that target not letting cell phone bills rise in future, as there is a sale of mobile airwaves happening soon and if for instance, AT&T and Verizon outspend their competition, it may happen; so FCC is making sure Sprint, T-Mobile and smaller carriers have a fighting chance to offer faster networks by purchasing high-speed wireless spectrum during an auction of those airwaves in March.
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So what do you get and for how much? In addition, the customer wars in the US have been won by Verizon and AT&T.
Lastly, consumers will have a better idea now of how wireless companies make their money: by providing access to mobile data, not selling phones, and certainly not through voice calls or text messaging, which are more often given to you on an unlimited basis with a data plan.
Verizon’s new plan will take effect on August 13.
Verizon spokesman Chuck Hamby was quoted by USA Today as having said that the company is trying to focus on “what customers say matters most to them”. If you sign a contract, you can buy a new iPhone for around $200. Providers will also increasingly earn their keep by offering exclusive content; Verizon and AT&T have made moves in this direction by acquiring AOL and DirecTV, respectively. The program, which was launched in 2013 following the lead of T-Mobile US and AT&T Mobility, tacks on a monthly charge for the device on top of the rate plan charge, or customers can pay full price for their device upfront. Beginning this month, the revamped system will allow users to pay for the data they want and pay a monthly fee. Subtract the value of the subsidies ($38 for two iPhones), and you got $92 for 3 gigabytes and $112 for 6 gigabytes.
There are no more down payments, activation fees, or annual contracts.
If you’re ready and eligible for a new phone, it’s safer to do so by Wednesday, before the new plans kick in. Under the new plan, the monthly price for service goes up to $50, not counting the monthly installment you could be paying for the phone.
The plans represent a radical shift away from how Verizon has traditionally operated, offering subsidies to handsets while locking users into contracts. Savings decrease with lower-level data plans, but should be up to $20 even in the small plan.
You have the option to lease your phone for only 18 months and trade it in at that time for a new phone.
Business customers save an additional $5 per month, or $120 in total, using NEXT. At the outset, you’ll pay more on Verizon’s new plans than you would have with a two-year contract. (You would have been billed $70 under the old plan.) But taking into consideration the lack of an activation fee and down payment, the 1 GB plan will end up saving you $72 over the course of two years ($1848 vs. $1920). Contract plans, on the other hand, are priced such that monthly service billings recover the cost of the initial hardware subsidy.
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Although customers with cheaper data plans will see a price cut, families and customers with larger data buckets could be paying a bit more than they had been.
