In a bid to get its old customers to switch over to its new plans, Verizon has decided that dropping not-so-subtle hints such as a price increase is the way to go.
Big Red has confirmed to the Washington Post that, starting Nov. 15, it will start charging customers who are still on its unlimited data plan an additional $20 on top of the $30 that customers already pay to keep using their grandfathered plans.
That is, of course, not the entire amount. On top of the $50 that customers now need to pay for unlimited data, they also have to pay for the monthly calls and SMS plan and the monthly installments for a new device if they decide to get one.
For instance, if a customer is on Verizon's grandfathered Nationwide Talk & Text 450 plan for $60, he needs to pay an additional $50 to continue using unlimited data. So that's $110 all in all for a single plan. If he decides to get the new iPhone 6s through Verizon's monthly installment payment program, that's another $23 to pay for every month, bumping up the price of phone and service to $133 each month.
Chuck Hamby, a spokesperson for Verizon, claims the overwhelming majority of all Verizon customers will not be affected by the price increase, since 99 percent are already on one of the carrier's metered plans.
"Some of those folks in the 1 percent that are on unlimited plans, they could save money if they switched to one of the new Verizon plans, based on their usage," Hamby says.
The change affects customers who are already out of contract. Those who are still on contract will not be affected just yet, but the price hike will take place once their contracts end. Government customers are also not affected, as well as customers of very old plans where the data is baked right into the plan itself.
Verizon has stopped selling its unlimited data plans to customers a few years ago, but customers who signed up for these plans are still able to use unlimited data every month. However, with more calls and SMS not being very lucrative after all and mobile apps turning out to be huge data-guzzlers, the wireless carriers have seen an opportunity in using metered data plans instead of offering unlimited data to customers.
Just recently, Verizon announced a new set of simpler data plans, where it offers 1 GB of data for the $30 plan, 3GB for $45, 6GB for $60 and 12GB for $80, on top of the $20 for every smartphone line and $10 for each tablet line. The move to increase the price of unlimited data should force at least some customers to move over to one of the new plans.
Verizon and AT&T have stopped offering unlimited data plans. Only T-Mobile and Sprint, among the big four carriers, continue to do so, with T-Mobile offering an $80 unlimited calls, SMS and data plan and Sprint planning to raise its prices from $60 to $70 starting next week.
