Verizon Wireless today revealed how much it will charge iPhone 4 users for voice, text and data service.
• 450 minutes for $40/month
• 900 minutes for $60/month
• Unlimited minutes for $70/month
• Unlimited data for $30/month (temporary offer)
• 2 GB of data for tethering or hot-spotting for $20/month.
• 250 messages for $5/month
• 500 messages for $10/month
• Pay-per-use for 20 cents/text
• Unlimited messages for $20/month
Verizon Wireless will charge $199.99 for the 16GB model and $299.99 for the 32GB model with a new two year customer agreement.
iPhone 4 will be available on the Verizon Wireless network beginning on Thursday, February 10. Qualified Verizon Wireless customers will be given the exclusive opportunity to pre-order iPhone 4 online on February 3 at 3am ET, ahead of general availability.
Source: Verizon Wireless
As I feared, only 2GB of data for tethering, and with an additional cost at that.
Since tethering is important for me, I’ll probably suffer along with my rooted Android on Verizon for a while longer. It mostly works…sort of…after a fashion.
But it’s still last years model. The iPhone 5 will be out in May or June. Will Verizon Worthless be getting the new model? I think not. But if they do, won’t early adopters be pissed at buying the old phone?
I’ll be waiting to see what features the new model has before deciding which network to choose. VW’s prices seem better than AT&T’s, but will I miss having voice and data at the same time or international roaming if I switch?
I hope it’ll have a 64GB RAM module in it. I could really use a higher storage capacity.
fuck you, Verizon…you’re as ridiculous as AT&T.
…”VW’s prices seem better than AT&T’s, “…
Let’s see:
Verizon: $40 for 400min ($60 for 900 min, $70 unl)
AT&T: $40 for 450min plus rollover ($60 for 900 min, $70 unl)
Verizon: $20 for unlimited text ($5 for 250, $10 for 500)
AT&T: $20 for unlimited text ($10 for 1000)
Verizon: $30 unlimited data (for a limited time)
AT&T: $25 for 2GB ($15 for 250MB)
Verizon: $20 tethering (limit to 2GB)
AT&T: $20 tethering (additional 2GB over regular data allowance), but not yet available on the iPhone (AT&T still “evaluating”)
So, in most categories, AT&T’s plans are actually either identical or cheaper than Verizon’s.
Texting should be free – It is amazing how phone companies rip us off and get away with it…
Well, after all these years I just may be getting an iPhone tomorrow.. buh-bye Blackberry, it was nice knowin ya.. for the most part.
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@Botvinnik
“fuck you, Verizon…you’re as ridiculous as AT&T.”
Let me explain a little bit so that we don’t get as frustrated…. Not the I’m defending or justifying these wireless phone operators but instead trying to expose one of the reasons.
Yes, their pricing will pinch most anyone eyes but, where do you think they will draw the necessary money to pay for the [subsidized] phones?
Yep, that simple, from what subscribers are charged for the services. Period.
How come sprint offers unlimited everything for 69.99 and these companies can’t?
Not only that, but they count the message that you send, and the ones that come in. In other words, they apply double fee for each message. Once to the sender and once to the receiver. That is crap.
@Cowboy – You beat me to it, pardner. They are practically charging by the electron! A typical text message is a few tens of bytes, the equivalent of a tiny fraction of a second of a voice call with none of the real-time issues. And, yet, text messages cost up to 2 cents each while voice calls cost up to 10 cents per minute. From the standpoint of data quantity, text messages costs are incredibly high in comparison.
Rippppp Offffff
And, by the way, isn’t it interesting that the best that these two companies can do is to “match” each other. Unless customers start flowing one way or the other in significant numbers, both of these heavyweights will be satisfied with a little meaningless sparring near the middle of the ring.
We need the iPhone on T-Mobile and Sprint, too, if possible, to create more competition for our business.
fuck you, Only You
@ fred – have you ever tried to use Sprint outside of a major metropolitan area? Thousands of cell towers around the countryside are just as expensive to put up and maintain as the ones in the city. Licensing may be different in the cities, but coverage sucks equally in the cities.
These companies rape us, because they can get away with it. Absolute power corrupts absolutely
I use Sprint outside of a major metropolitan area everyday and have no problem.
Same text message (SMS) scam as AT&T… this shit should be illegal!
MyTouch on T-mobile costs $70 per month for unlimited EVERYTHING including hotspot for up to 5 devices. I use my ipad connected to the internet through my phone. That saves me $70 per month plus tethering overages. I can make due without the iphone for that kind of savings.
The only way anyone will see better rates is if we walk away from the iphone. AT&T and Verizon will get the message. An ipad with my phone is the next best thing at HALF the price.
Texting is free thanks to Google Voice:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=google+voice+free+texting+iphone
Don’t let the carriers rip you, let Google cover the cost.
I have an iPhone that I bought used for $115 (no contract obviously). I use it like an iPod touch that can also make phone calls. The voice service is ATT’s GoPhone which is a pre-paid service (cost is based on “consumption). The minimum cost is $25 every 90 days. It has a pre-paid data options, but it costs too much so I don’t use with data. I just do all Internet-related stuff over WiFi (like iPod touch), and that’s fine for my needs.
When iPhone 3GS owners start to upgrade en masse to “iPhone 5” this summer, I’m getting one of those used, and continue my “frugal” iPhone ways.
They are price matching because the intention is to compete on service, not price. Once you start competing only on price and not on quality, you get the race to the bottom that has happened with netbooks, where the companies make little or no profit and have now resorted to stripping out functions to maintain the price points they taught consumers to expect.
Now, at least, AT&T and Verizon can compete against each other by saying “but with us you get eg. AT&T: simultaneous voice + data or Verizon: fewer dropouts and more coverage and so it goes on….
The largest network here in Australia (we have 3 x GSM networks) is priced above the other 2 and focuses on their network superiority in terms of speed and coverage to attract customers despite being much more expensive. The cost-conscious customers go for the cheap plans and max out their voice and data usage, while the quality-conscious customers head for the more expensive carrier and pay more plus additional charges for exceeding their limits but are happy (ish) to do so for the better service they receive.
Meanwhile the cheaper 2 carriers are constantly in the media for the poorer quality of service they deliver because they have maxed out their capacity through mass marketing and overselling
@Only You
“Yes, their pricing will pinch most anyone eyes but, where do you think they will draw the necessary money to pay for the [subsidized] phones?”
So after my contract is over, will they discount my service cost?
Let’s see…
I pay $50/month for unlimited 3G data and can do as I damn well please with my WiFi Hotspot or I can ‘upgrade
and get nickel & dimed for every thing other than breathing.
No effin way.
In Adelaide, Australia, with Optus I pay $100/month for unlimited text, unlimited calling (including 13, 1300 numbers and voicemail retrieval), unlimited facebook and many other sites, 5GB of data (tethering available at no extra cost, data comes out of 5GB), iPhone was free on a 2 year plan. Australia is about the same size, if not bigger than America, with only 22 million, yet our phone providers have been able to afford to give us these plans. Verizon, you can do better!
@PAP: They’ll come for the oxygen next.