Welcome Verizon to the party that other carries have already been invited to: ย eliminating contracts for their customers.
According to CNET, on Friday August 7, Verizon announced the blockbuster decision to officially eliminate contracts from their sales structure. ย Instead, each phone will carry its own set of rules. ย When purchasing a new smartphone from Verizon, the consumer will be allowed to pick from four different data plans: ย Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large (almost sounds like Verizon’s marketing team went to McDonald’s that day and could not decide on something a bit more creative). ย The breakdown is as follows:
Small plan: ย 1 gigabyte of data, $30 a month
Medium plan: ย 3 gigabytes of data, $45 a month
Large plan: ย 6 gigabytes of data, $60 a month
Extra Large plan: ย 12 gigabytes of data, $120 a month
In addition to choosing your plan, Verizon has decided to tag various devices with an “access fee.” ย Smartphones will run $20 a month, $10 for a tablet, and $5 for a smartwatch.
When you finally have all that sorted out, you can either pay for the entire cost of the phone up front or pay monthly. ย Whenever I have purchased a new phone from Verizon, I was required to pay the entire cost of the device up front. ย It is up for debate on whether or not this will save individuals or families money in the long run, that’s just too much math for this writer to figure out on a Sunday. ย However, CNET reports that families who are on 6 gigabyte data plans will be paying for more. ย Also, Verizon has eliminated the 500 megabyte monthly plans which may scare off consumers who do not use a lot of data. ย Verizon’s decision will cause a lot of people to do their research before deciding to join the smartphone giant. ย Many people enjoy pairing their phones on family plans. ย Not having to tie yourself down to a contract is a nice feature, however, so we shall see how it goes!
(Thanks to CNET for the story.)