This morning, we reported on news that had been floating around our inbox for a good month or two, which was of a $20 price increase to Verizon’s grandfathered unlimited data plan to $49.99 per month. The news is unfortunate, of course, but also seems like something that could have happened a long, long time ago. Thanks to additional sources of ours, we now have even more details about the move and who it impacts.
As we mentioned earlier, the start date for this change is indeed November 15. On October 15, Verizon will begin notifying customers of the price increase and that they can choose to keep unlimited data with the price increase or switch to one of their new S/M/L/XL plans under The Verizon Plan. If you decide to keep unlimited, the increase in price will appear on your next bill after November 15.
The new increase currently only affects those who are out of contract. If you are still on-contract, the increase won’t arrive until your contract ends.
Why is Verizon making this change? It’s simple, they know that data usage is growing and so an increase in price reflects their “escalating costs to provide unlimited data.” Keep in mind that at $49.99, this is still technically truly unlimited, meaning Verizon isn’t throttling at anytime, unlike some of their competitors who have unlimited caps.
On a semi-positive note, this change does allow you to upgrade through Verizon’s device payment plan and not lose unlimited. Sure, you will then have a monthly device payment, plus the $20 increase in your unlimited data option, but you no longer have to fork out the full retail price up front.
Other notes:
- Again, only unlimited data customers who are out of contract are affected at this time.
- ECPD, CLEU and Government customers are not affected by the change.
- If you have a really old plan, like a Legacy Alltel SmartChoice plan, where the unlimited data portion is built into the plan, you are also not affected.
So there you have it.