Joey White of Burnsville calls himself a “power user” of wireless data via his carrier, Verizon. He has paid $30 a month to get unlimited data on his Android smartphone for a while.
So recent, drastic changes to how Verizon sells its wireless services — including data, voice and texts — have angered White. The reason: Verizon has made it far more difficult, if not impossible, for him to retain his beloved bottomless bucket of bandwidth.
White isn’t the only one crying foul. Verizon has received plenty of criticism in the two days since its announcement — unfair criticism, the carrier insists.
This controversy revolves around Share Everything, which is a radical rethinking of the classic cellular contract. Under such a plan, Verizon has made it easier to buy voice minutes and texts, both unlimited.
Those limitless minutes and texts can even be shared among multiple devices — if an individual is packing a smartphone, a tablet and a wireless hotspot, for instance, or if members of a family on the same plan have many such devices. Verizon allows voice and text sharing among up to 10 such gadgets, with a monthly fee for each one to be part of that pool.
That goes for data, too. Multiple gizmos on a single account can dip into a single pool of shared data for email and Web surfing, instead of each having its own wireless-data plan, as has been the norm.
The catch: No unlimited-data option is available. In fact, this has not been an option for a while, but those who subscribed to these plans in the past, as White did, have been able to continue using them.
Yet Verizon, like other carriers, is keen to do away with such offerings and replace them with a tiered selection of data-capped options for everyone.
Under Share Everything, for instance, one gigabyte of data costs $50, two gigs run $60, four gigs are $70 and so on.
“Verizon has gone from $30 a month for unlimited data to $50 a month for one gigabyte,” White said. “And this is better for the consumer?”
Others who have scrutinized Share Everything believe the change could be beneficial to customers in certain circumstances. While such a plan might prove pricey for an individual with a single device, it’s potentially a bargain when multiple users and gadgets are associated with a single, communal Share Everything account.
Verizon also gets points for simplifying how wireless plans are bought, according to Anthony Domanico, a Roseville-based contributor to the AndroidAndMe.com and IntoMobile.com sites.
Verizon is now much more consumer-friendly than its direct competitors, Domanico said. Its dozens of wireless-plan choices have been boiled down to two decisions: How many devices and how much data, he noted.
Verizon isn’t the first wireless carrier to adopt this strategy, however. Niche carrier Ting, which piggybacks on the Sprint network, has provided a communal-account approach with a shared pool of voice minutes, texts and data among multiple devices since earlier this year.
“It’s nice to see the big guys catching up on that,” said Ken Schafer, executive vice president of products for Ting parent company, Tucows.
New and renewing Verizon Wireless customers do retain the option to reject this approach, said Steven Mesnick, the carrier’s marketing director. No one is forcing them to use Share Everything, a detail that has often been overlooked amid the recent furor over the new plan, he said.
Current unlimited-data users can stick with that plan while using their current device.
When the time comes for a phone or tablet upgrade, Verizon customers have two choices: They can continue using their unlimited data, but on the condition that they pay a full or “unsubsidized” price for the new device (up to $849 for an iPhone, for example). Or they can pay the substantially lower subsidized price for a device but give up the unlimited data forever.
That’s a tough choice, said Teresa Sanders of North Oaks.
“I upgraded from a BlackBerry to an iPhone last year right before Verizon eliminated the unlimited data plan for individuals,” she said. “At the time, Verizon assured us we would be ‘grandfathered’ and could always keep that unlimited data plan at that pricing.
“I realize Verizon is now within its rights to eliminate an equipment subsidy if we want to upgrade devices yet retain our grandfathered unlimited-data plan, but it stinks,” she said.
Verizon customers who don’t like Share Anything have yet another choice: They can buy voice, texting and data a la carte, at a variety of levels, to suit their needs. Those who burn through data but do not do much calling and texting can create a plan that meets their needs, Mesnick stressed. Data starts at $30 a month for 1 gigabyte under such circumstances.
But Jennifer Pearson Hennen of Otsego, Minn., said Share Everything is tempting. She likes that devices can be used as wireless hotspots at no additional charge (Verizon used to charge $20 a month for this feature), and she is tempted by the unlimited minutes.
“I think it could be a good deal for families who are using all parts of this plan (unlimited calling, messaging, hotspot), assuming they’re good about their data usage,” she said. “We’re not sold yet, but I think for us, it could work out well.”
Share Everything goes into effect on June 28.
