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Verizon’s New “Share Everything” Plans Will Bring Many Higher Cell Bills

Phillip Dampier June 12, 2012 Competition, Consumer News, Data Caps, Editorial & Site News, Verizon, Video, Wireless Broadband 14 Comments

Verizon Wireless unveiled their new “Share Everything” Plans this morning, claiming consumers wanted “simpler, easier-to-understand” plans that let them share their data plan across multiple devices:

But a closer examination of the plans, to be introduced June 28, shows many Verizon customers will face substantially higher cell phone bills if they choose one of Verizon’s newest plans. Perhaps more importantly, customers upgrading to a new subsidized phone/contract renewal on or after that date will be forced to forfeit any grandfathered unlimited data plans they still have with Verizon.

“It is an effort to move ARPU up,” Walt Piecyk, an analyst with BTIG LLC in New York told Bloomberg News, referring to average revenue per user, a measure of how much each customer spends each month.

Obviously acknowledging that customers are using fewer voice minutes and are increasingly finding ways around text messaging charges, Verizon’s new plans sell customers on the idea they can now talk and text as much as they want, but as far as data is concerned, customers will potentially pay much more for less service.

Those light on talking and texting are most likely to be hit hardest by the new cell phone plans.

Verizon formerly charged $50 a month for a basic Nationwide Talk Share plan that included 700 shared voice minutes. Smartphone users also paid $29.99 a month for unlimited data. Together, that amounts to $80 a month. Under Verizon’s $40 “Share Everything” Plan, customers can talk and text all they want, but their unlimited data plan is gone, replaced with a 1GB basic plan for $50. That costs $10 more than customers used to pay on Verizon’s 700 minute plan with an unlimited use data plan. Need 2GB a month? Add an extra $10, bringing you a Verizon phone bill of at least $100 a month for the first line on your account, before taxes and fees.

Other family member lines may also be hit. Verizon used to charge $9.99 a month for extra lines on a shared account. The new price is $30 for a basic phone, $40 for a smartphone. Those family members with smartphones on an older Verizon account each would also incur $29.99 a month for their own individual data plan, which was also unlimited.

Although the base fee for the additional line with a data plan still remains around $40 a month, family members will be forced to share the primary line’s data bucket. Customers will quickly find a 1GB data plan is not going to last long on an account with two or three smartphones. That means expensive upgrades, which start at $10/GB.

Accounts with a mix of smartphones and basic phones face an even stiffer price hike. The $9.99 a month customers used to pay for a basic phone for grandma will now run $30 a month. She won’t be talking or texting much, so the extra features built into Verizon’s new plan will represent a pointless $20 monthly rate increase and an invitation to set grandma up with her own prepaid cell phone instead.

Verizon’s new “Share Everything” concept clearly builds major profits into Verizon’s future:

  • Customers are forced to pay for unlimited voice and texting services, even as those services lose popularity, costing Verizon little to nothing;
  • Data customers are encouraged to add additional devices to their account, but as more data gets used, ongoing upgrades to your data plan at an increment of $10/GB or more will be required;
  • Customers considering a new Apple iPhone or other smartphone will be forced to forfeit any existing unlimited data plan to upgrade, which guarantees future profits from customers consuming increasing amounts of data.
For Verizon’s most premium customers, the new plans may deliver temporary savings, as long as data usage is tempered:
  • Customers paying for expensive texting plans will save the cost of those add-ons;
  • Talk time is now unlimited on most plans, putting an end to overages;
  • Verizon’s Mobile Hotspot feature will now be turned on for all customers on the Share Everything plan (to encourage additional data usage no doubt), which will eliminate at least $20 a month for the feature under existing plans;
  • Customers who own multiple wireless devices configured to work with Verizon, but only use them occasionally, will likely save sharing a single data plan instead of paying for one plan for each device.
All in all, customers who spend the most with Verizon will probably find some savings from Verizon’s newest plans, but legacy customers grandfathered on unlimited data and calling plans probably will not, and lighter users who want fewer features will find substantially higher prices staying with Big Red. For them, a switch to a different carrier or even prepaid service will increasingly appear attractive as monthly phone bills now soar above $100 a month.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Verizon Share Everything Plan 6-12-12.mp4[/flv]

Verizon’s introductory video for its new Share Everything plans.  (1 minute)

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Sean
Sean
12 years ago

The Verizon Share Everything calculator shows me facing about 50% price hike to go from unlimited to a 2Gig plan if I upgrade to a Verizon 4G phone. This is in my interest how?

Scott
Scott
12 years ago

These executives are dreaming if they think they can squeeze another 20-50% out of consumers pocket for wireless internet with this latest scheme. The value just isn’t there, it’s nice, but it’s not like the abandoned home internet service where unlimited high-speed broadband gets you full HD big screen streaming tv, movies, music, gaming, browsing, etc.. for your whole family.. Here you need to spend $120/mo for a 4″ screen carefull not to use anything but email and basic web for the few times you’re not at home or at work where you can get your internet off WiFi anyway.… Read more »

Alex Perrier
Alex Perrier
12 years ago

These plans are an absolute rip-off for Internet access, no doubt about that. For the smartphones plan, they are better than what’s in Canada if you don’t mind having little mobile Internet access. For example, two smartphones with unlimited talk+text costs $130/month at Verizon, or $65/month per phone. The closest plan to that here for one line ($50 talk + $5 text + $10 for 100 MB) only gives out 100 MB of Internet. Even those who want a lot of access can have something decent. Two Verizon smartphones with unlimited talk+text plus 10 GB shared (about 5 GB each)… Read more »

John Vincent
John Vincent
12 years ago

Add this nonsense to their new $30 upgrade fee for handsets (free phones now just $30!!) and DANG — they’ll be mega profitable in no time. What could go wrong? The upgrade fee had me shopping for a new carrier, this seals it.

Greg
Greg
12 years ago

Whoohooo!! I am no longer aiding and abetting a telco monoply . Just ported my Verizon cell number to Google Voice. Got myself a nice large (5″ screen) wifi only Android smart phone which I will use for most of my voice and data. Then I bought the smallest Tracfone I could find which also has triple minutes for life and the minutes good for one year (as low as 4 cents per minute – I was paying Verizon some months over 9 cents per minute USED). Google Voice will ring both phones at the same time – which ever… Read more »

BambisMusings
12 years ago

Here’s my review of Verizon Wireless’ current situation for me in rural Virgnia:

http://www.dslreports.com/comment/2957/84727

In the comments, I show what it will cost for sharing all and having unlimited minutes/texts with basic/feature phones or smartphones and with using 21GB data for a rural user where this is OUR ONLY VIABLE OPTION FOR BROADBAND….PSEUDO BROADBAND anyway.

I thought this might be good to show.

BambisMusings
12 years ago

Thank you! Some one who realizes the mess we are in here!

It’s like they think we are made of money in Rural America. It’s really sad.

Part of the problem is also in ‘territories’. I was told that Cox Cable can’t come here because it belongs to someone else…who won’t bring wires in either!

it’s just plain nuts.

Thanks Phillip Dampier!

BambisMusings
12 years ago

This is a small town. Little over 300 souls in town. But in Surry County, quite a bit more. All they need to do is come down Rt 31 with Fiber and they can go anywhere from there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surry_County,_Virginia There’s Charter Cable in Wakefield, VA in Sussex County – 6 miles or less away. There’s Verizon DSL about 4 miles away in Wakefield, Va as well. We even considered getting someone in Wakefield to let us use their location to get Charter Cable, but we have a rise topographically that we can’t get over between us and Wakefield. It really… Read more »

BambisMusings
12 years ago

Oh, yeah, and Surry has had a ‘finalized’ Wireless plan that was finalized back in 2009. And they apparently still need more money to do it, or lost their contractor(s), or need more contractors, or something. But God knows how much, or how little that bandwidth will be to the end user out here at the end of the county like we are even if it will be for a lesser amount than what we pay now. We need the speed as well as the bandwidth. We have been asking how long till they get DSL or Cable out here… Read more »

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