Tiered Pricing is Coming for Verizon Users, So Get That Upgrade in Before 7/7

The era of the unlimited data plan is coming. AT&T led the way, but Droid Life is reporting that on July 7th, Verizon will follow. Presumably, the standard line about how this will save money for most customers applies, but you have to wonder about that with the rates being reported. AT&T’s 2 GB plan was $25/month, $5 cheaper than their unlimited plan had been. Data plans on Verizon will start at $30/month for 2 GB, the same as the current price for unlimited data. The $15/month for 150 MB plan seems to be gone. For users wanting larger data plans, you can get 5 GB for $50/month or 10 GB for $80/month. It’s unclear how plans that start at the highest currently available price and going up from there is going to save anyone anything.

The higher tiered plans give me a bit of hope, however. I don’t know how one user would use 10 GB of data in a month on their phone without tethering, which requires its own plan and has its own data allotment. I’ve never managed to top 6 GB, and even that involved an entire month of heavy use with a messed up WiFi router at home. If, however, the persistent rumors that Verizon will also be rolling out shared family data plans are true, then it would make more sense.

With a shared plan, a household paying for two unlimited plans could probably take the 5 GB plan and save $10 a month. Individual users won’t see any benefit (and maybe even get a price increase instead), but for people closer to the 5-phone limit on their family plan, this could potentially save a lot of money. If the average user stays under 2 GB, a family of five could nearly cut their data bill in half, from $150 to $80.

Overages on all three tiers cost $10/1 GB, same as AT&T. If you want access to tethering, you pay an additional $20/month, same as right now, but you get an additional 2 GB of data added to your cap. I guess Verizon assumes you’ll use at least 1 GB a month through tethering and still want your phone data too. And it seems the 2 GB will be added to the cap for all of your phone’s data, rather than tracked separately. I’d rather free tethering and I’ll buy whatever data plan I need to support it, but I guess we can’t get everything.

It’s the end of the all-you-can-eat era. Hopefully, tiered pricing will save us all some money, but if you want to renew that 2-year contract with unlimited date one more time, the clock is ticking.

UPDATE: While tiered data plans are coming for new data subscribers in July, people renewing their subscriptions will receive them at the same rate for now. The language is worded as such that Verizon can stil charge tiers for data in the future, but right now, this only affects new customers and those upgrading from phones to smartphones.