Grandfathered-in unlimited plan customers will be forced to pick a tier when Verizon rolls out shared data plans this summer

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

May 16, 2012

2 Min Read
Verizon Wireless Brings Unlimited Users to Tiers

Those Verizon Wireless customers who locked in $30 unlimited data plans before the carrier's switch to tiers will lose their grandfathered-in status when the carrier introduces shared data plans this summer. (See Verizon to Roll Out Sharable Data Buckets .)

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) CFO Fran Shammo discussed the coming changes at the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference Wednesday, telling attendees that when customers upgrade to Long Term Evolution (LTE) smartphones, they must also purchase data-share plans, which Verizon expects to launch by midsummer, and ditch unlimited data. He didn't say what happens if they stay on 3G, however; Verizon is only introducing LTE phones this year, so its customers will eventually need to upgrade. (See Verizon Goes All Out for LTE Smartphones .)

"A lot of our 3G base is unlimited," he said at the conference. "As they start migrating to 4G, they will have to come off of unlimited and go into the data share plan. And that's beneficial for us for many reasons, obviously."

Why this matters
Verizon stopped offering unlimited data plans last July, but the move only affected new customers or those who signed a new contract. Nixing unlimited entirely is likely to anger customers that were counting on avoiding the carrier's data caps. (See Verizon: Turn Tiers to Smiles.)

With the exception of Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), all of the wireless operators have moved to tiered data plans with caps. But, for example, nearly 40 percent of AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T)'s customers are still on unlimited plans. Verizon didn't reveal how many have been grandfathered in, but in Light Reading's survey of readers in February, 71 percent of Verizon customers said they were still on unlimited plans. It's safe to say that a lot of people will be affected.

For more

  • Q1 Scorecard: Wireless Operators Square Off on Data

  • Verizon Confirms the End of Unlimited

  • Verizon Sheds a Tier for Unlimited Data

  • New Data Plans Keep It in the Family

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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