Share Everything plans arriving June 28 on Verizon, unlimited talk and text plus 2GB data for $100 a month
Verizon kept its word to introduce its new shared data plans in the summer, and they are indeed arriving June 28, so hopefully you took advantage of that Galaxy S III preorder, because when the handset actually launches, you might have to pay full price for keeping that nice grandfathered unlimited plan.
The carrier will offer the shared plan with a monthly access fee of $40 for a smartphone ($30 for a feature phone) that includes unlimited calls and texts, and extra $60 for 2GB of data, which could be shared with up to 10 devices. Each additional device has a different access tariff such as a $10 fee for a tablet and a $20 fee for a hotspot, and adds 2GB of data more to share. So for a smartphone plus tablet to jointly use 4GB of data you'd splurge $120 a month, but won't pay overages if you reach the limit on one device, and still have some data left for the other.
Verizon's Chief Marketing Officer Tami Erwin said research showed that customers use on average 1-2GB of data per month on their mobile device, hence hinting the reasons for the 2GB allowance. She commented on the new shared data plan:
What I'm doing is giving you the flexibility to share the data you've paid for. Customers who are using more than one device will very quickly see the value in this. This is really intended to drive growth. My expectation is it doesn't change our margins.
The thing is that current subscribers will be able to keep their existing plans, but any new subscriptions will be on the shared data prices, starting June 28, regardless if they plan to only use one device. Unlimited talk and text is a nice perk, but given that data usage is ballooning for the sake of voice and texting, we'll be curious to see whether Verizon's stock price goes up today.
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