If you're thinking of buying a new smart phone from Verizon, you'd better do it today. Otherwise, you may pay a lot more for using the Internet on your phone.
Until now, Verizon was offering unlimited data usage plans, sort of an all-you-can-eat for surfing the Web, checking your email, texting, sending photos, downloading music or video, or using your phone as a modem as much as you wanted each month.
But starting this Thursday (July 7), Verizon is ending unlimited data plans. All new Verizon customers will have to choose a limited or capped data usage plan, just like you you have to choose the number of voice minutes.
You can choose 2 GB per month for $30 a month, 5 GB for $50, or 10 GB for $80. If you go over your plan its $10 per GB.
If you buy a old-fashioned phone rather than a smart phone, you'll be charged $10 for 75 MB per month for Internet access. Why so low? Non-smart phones don't access the "full" graphics-filled Internet, just text.
This change affects ONLY new customers. Current Verizon subscribers can continue to enjoy unlimited Internet access, whether you buy a new phone today or in the future.
However, if you currently have a 4G LTE Verizon phone, you'll now have to pay $30/month for its heretofore free Wi-Fi hotspot capabilities, although it seems the mobile hotspot usage is unlimited. For new 4G LTE smart phone customers, hotspot usage will cost an extra $20 for an extra 2 GB/month.
How many GB have I used?
Unlike voice minutes, figuring out how much data you use each month is not easy. Everything you do online – surf the Web, upload photos, download video, check email – all use different amounts of data.
AT&T offers an international data calculator that you can use to help you figure out how much smart phone data you use here in the U.S.A.
To monitor how many bits and bytes you use on the iPhone, go to Settings-General-Usage. Scroll down to the bottom of Usage to "Reset Statistics" each month and you'll get an precise running data odometer.
I could not find an analogous data usage meter on Android. But you can download a data usage app from the Android Market, such as PhoneUsage from Jupiter Apps.
I wouldn't be surprised if an enterprising app developer created a data odometer that kept you constantly appraised of your data usage.
If you plan on switching to Verizon after Thursday, track your data usage for a while on your current phone for a week or so to get a sense of which package to opt for.
Why are they doing this?
Verizon isn't the first carrier to switch from unlimited to limited data plans – AT&T switched to capped usage rates last year.
Why? The cell phone network is like a freeway. If there are too many cars on the road, it doesn't matter what the speed limit is – in bumper-to-bumper traffic, everyone is forced to drive slower.
Like a highway, cell phone carrier radio spectrum – all wireless devices are essentially radios and operate on specific and limited frequencies – is only so wide. With so many people now using smart phones to access the Internet, that spectrum is getting crowded.
If you're an AT&T customer trying to access the Web in midtown Manhattan or downtown San Francisco, you know what I mean.
Switching to limited data plans means you may be less likely to casually surf, helping to alleviate some of the data traffic congestion.
Carriers suggest you use your phone's Wi-Fi capability at home to keep data usage down (assuming you have a Wi-Fi set up at home).
As yet, both Sprint (which has more 4G spectrum than anyone else) and T-Mobile (which doesn't have as many smart phone customers as Verizon or AT&T) both continue to offer all-you-can-download data plans.
Mathematically, these capped pricing gimmicks are merely stop-gap solutions. More people are switching from flip phones to smart phones, meaning more and more people are merging onto the cell phone spectrum freeway. Carriers are trying to metaphorically widen their data roadways, but it's an open question whether anything short of a radical technological solution will ease the traffic.