Verizon customers in Virginia are saying goodbye to automatic delivery of the printed edition of the White Pages after the State Corporation Commission gave the okay to end decades of directory deliveries on doorsteps across the state.

The gradual end of automatic telephone directory delivery has been ongoing throughout the United States as customers increasingly look online for telephone listings.  The directory also isn’t what it used to be as Americans increasingly turn off landlines and turn on cell phones, which go unlisted by default.

Verizon says the printed phone book wastes energy, trees, and money when customers immediately discard them in the nearest recycling bin.  But the company does plan to continue offering free printed copies on request.

While residential directories gradually disappear, the Yellow Pages, filled with business listings, will continue to grace doorsteps for years to come.  They represent an enormous moneymaker for phone companies and directory publishers, so opting out of the bulkier business pages is going to require more effort.

Unfortunately for consumers, while telephone companies realize significant savings not having to print and distribute the phone books, they have no plans to pass those savings on to you in the form of reduced rates.

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTVR Richmond Goodbye White Pages 5-6-11.mp4[/flv]

WTVR-TV has some fun with the imminent demise of Verizon’s Richmond White Pages.  (2 minutes)

Can’t get enough Jersey Shore?

Customers of Verizon FiOS can now watch selected full length episodes of that, and several other MTV series free of charge on a new online video website for authenticated cable/satellite customers.

MTVNow delivers at least a handful of episodes of their regular series — mostly reality shows.

“It’s clear that today’s consumers want to access their video programming anytime, any place, and Verizon continues to make that possible with online programming from partners like MTV Networks,” said Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon.

FiOS TV customers will also get access to MTV Networks’ Comedy Central and Nickelodeon online soon.

Verizon customers will be authenticated by using their registered Verizon Online user names and passwords that verify they are existing pay-television subscribers.  If a customer only receives Verizon’s broadband service, they will not be able to access the service.

It’s part of the industry’s TV Everywhere project designed to stop customers from cord cutting their cable/satellite television packages.  By locking out access to popular shows, providers hope to avoid losing customers to a broadband environment where television shows are available free for watching.

But Verizon still faces licensing restrictions that limit the number of shows available to viewers at any one time.  Only about seven episodes of Jersey Shore, for example, were available.  Other series were limited to the last month of programming — a very familiar experience for Hulu visitors.  So are the commercials.

In addition to “Jersey Shore” and “Teen Mom 2,” Verizon and MTV Networks are providing FiOS TV customers with online access to MTV shows like ” Teen Cribs,” “True Life,” “The Real World: New Orleans” and “I Used To Be Fat.”  MTV will make additional shows available online soon including “The Hard Times of RJ Berger,” “Cribs,” “The Real World: Las Vegas” and “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory.”

Verizon customers who subscribe to FiOS TV are able to watch the MTV shows on their personal computers or laptops – at home or away – using any broadband connection.  Using their Verizon Online user names and passwords, FiOS customers can access the online programming at either www.verizon.com/fiostvonline or www.mtv.com/tve.

Standing in line for an iPhone tonight will be a little less comfortable than Apple's traditional summer release dates.

That stunning conclusion from online research firm uSamp is raising eyebrows because of the shockingly high number of people willing to brave the elements (and the cost) to grab iPhone 4 on Verizon’s network, even if it means pitching their existing phone in the waste bin.

Smartphone-lovers will have that chance as customers queue up tonight for Verizon’s iPhone tomorrow.

uSamp surveyed more than 700 smartphone users, finding that 29 percent of AT&T customers who intend to switch to Verizon for the iPhone are willing to wait in line on Feb. 10 to get it. Among existing Verizon customers who plan to get the iPhone, 24 percent report a willingness to stand in line, too.  When weighted across customers willing to switch handsets, more than one-quarter of all current iPhone owners will end their contracts with AT&T sometime this year.

For young consumers, devotion to the iPhone is even more intense: among AT&T customers intending to switch, 35 percent of those ages 18-24 and 50 percent of those ages 25-34 are willing to wait in line on the Feb. 10 launch day.

For Verizon’s current BlackBerry and Android users who report plans to switch to the iPhone, 46 percent of those ages 18-24 and 34 percent of those ages 25-34 agree they will wait in line on day one.

uSamp’s research shows diverging reasons for the willingness to switch.  For current AT&T customers, displeasure with AT&T’s network is by far the most important reason.  Nearly half of all respondents planning to leave cite dropped calls, followed by complaints about coverage and customer service.

The most recent example of AT&T’s high-profile failures was a very unhappy Will.i.am, whose attempts to tweet messages during the Super Bowl were met with frustration at every turn.  It seems AT&T didn’t deliver a reliable signal inside the stadium in Dallas, ironic considering AT&T is headquartered in that city.

“Att crashed … ahhhh!!!! The worse [sic],” tweeted Will.i.am, who has more than 800,000 followers of his Twitter account. That was shortly followed with “At&t??? Wow…no service during halftime…unbelievable.”

For Verizon customers, the largest group planning to abandon their existing phones are Blackberry owners.  Nearly two-thirds of respondents are prepared to give up a phone that used to be known as a “Crackberry.”  Why?  It’s yesterday’s phone, according to many respondents prepared to move on.

Many Android owners are also prepared to switch to the iPhone, even if their existing phones are just months old. These customers originally craved the iPhone, but settled on an Android phone just to stay with Verizon.  Now that they can have both the phone and the carrier, they will.

uSamp even measured regional differences in the motivation to switch.  Southern Verizon customers are most eager for the iPhone (30 percent), Midwesterners the least (13 percent).  AT&T customers who consider that company’s service as worthwhile as a stale Triscuit are evenly spread from coast to coast, averaging around 28 percent of all customers surveyed.

Tomorrow’s introduction will be followed by the next generation of iPhones early this summer, so some are planning to wait before upgrading.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTTG Washington ATT v Verizon iPhone 2-3-11.flv[/flv]

WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C. explores the differences between AT&T and Verizon iPhones with Mark Kellner, technology correspondent for the Washington Times.  (5 minutes)

The date has arrived.  Existing Verizon Wireless customers are now invited to “pre-order” The Precious.

Strangely, Verizon’s website gave more prominence to the phone before they could actually accept orders for it:

Verizon Website 2/2/2011

Verizon Website 2/3/2011

Verizon wants you to think of its Apple iPhone as a fine wine, offering “exclusive” access to “our reserved quantity, while they last.”

When they’re gone, they’re… will be more on the way.  The Keebler Elves at Apple will certainly make more, plenty more, to sustain pent up demand for the phone on Verizon’s network.

AT&T is doing all it can to keep customers from switching.  In addition to earlier efforts to lock customers into those two-year contracts with early termination fees, lots of AT&T customers are also getting e-mail from the company reminding them AT&T is the only network that lets you talk and surf the web at the same time (with your iPhone).  They ignore T-Mobile, which also accepts unlocked iPhones and works the same way.  AT&T and T-Mobile utilize GSM technology while Verizon (and Sprint… and Cricket… and MetroPCS) use CDMA.  The latter technology, at least in its current implementation, allows users do one or the other, not both.

That probably won’t keep too many disenchanted AT&T customers from leaving, but some other factors might:

1. Apple will release the iPhone 5 in less than six months, if things run according to schedule.  The new phone might work on Verizon’s new LTE network, something iPhone 4 does not.  Is there a hurry to upgrade now when something better is around the corner?
2. AT&T Retention Agents are giving away the store to customers warning of their intention to depart.  Restoration of unlimited data plans, free upgraded phones to qualified customers, free accessories, and even credit for a month of service have all been offered, even as the company publicly announces it is pulling back from some of those giveaways and specials.
3. As potentially millions of AT&T customers leave, those remaining may find improved performance from the lighter load on AT&T’s network.  Plus, the impact of the iPhone on Verizon’s 3G network remains unknown.  AT&T customers could parade themselves into new headaches on Verizon’s network.

Verizon will allow new iPhone customers access to its “unlimited data” add-on plan “for a limited time.”  Verizon plans to join AT&T in officially ending the unlimited option sometime this year, but exact pricing and plan details remain unavailable.

Customers can begin booking their departure from AT&T Feb. 9, when Verizon begins taking orders from new customers and those intending to drop their current carrier.

Verizon's iPhone Herd Mentality: Pay, pay more, and pay again.

We’re still trying to wrap our heads around this “deal” spotted in the Verizon iPhone FAQ by Gadgetell (underlining ours):

I just purchased a new smartphone during the holiday season, but if I knew that iPhone 4 was going to be available soon I would have waited. What are my options now?

Current Verizon customers who purchased and activated new smartphones, feature phones or certified pre-owned phones between 11/26/2010, and 01/10/2011, are eligible to receive up to a $200 Visa debit card when they purchase an iPhone 4 at full retail price by 02/28/2011 and return their existing phone. Note: This offer is only available on consumer accounts with five lines or less, who are purchasing iPhone 4 through Verizon Wireless retail stores, telesales, or through verizonwireless.com.

So, if you have recently bought a new Android or Blackberry phone during the holiday season, you can turn it in and essentially get your money back.  But Verizon isn’t giving you $200 — it is paying only as much as you spent on the phone to be returned, up to $200.

Verizon says that earns you the right to go and get in line to pay full retail price for a new iPhone in February.  No discounts or subsidies for you!  The 16GB iPhone runs $649.99 and the 32GB iPhone costs $749.99.

We’re basking in the savings.  Gosh, thanks Verizon!

Not only are customers giving up Verizon’s “new handset subsidy” — often worth hundreds of dollars, they also lose their New Every Two discount and other savings from promotions like Verizon’s Smartphones Talk Free $9.99 monthly discount for 24 months.

For those who simply must have the iPhone, Verizon will make you pay dearly for not waiting.

Having owned the iPod Touch (essentially the iPhone without the phone) and Motorola’s Droid X, I can testify the price penalty Verizon wants you to pay for the iPhone isn’t worth the asking price.  Move on, there is nothing to see here.  This is even more true considering the next generation of the iPhone will likely be introduced in just four months.  What will you do then, and how much do you think Verizon will extract from you all over again to get that phone?

There is no doubt Apple’s iPhone is a fine phone, but there are cheaper ways to get one, ranging from opening a new line on your Verizon account and passing your old phone down to a family member, to finding one on eBay, subsidized in part by selling your existing phone.