jimfitzgerald wrote:
I think I can because I used the word "also" which means my point is only a factor, not the entire reason. Again, I think evidence that is true is the fact Verizon didn't just raise the price for unlimited or give us some option to purchase unlimited amounts at a price, such as $10 or $15 per GB. I'm pretty sure they don't want anyone using 100GB, 1000GB, etc.
Verizon does offer up to 50 GB on Share Everything plans. Now it's very pricey but like the $15 overage fees. It's not really about greed. Everyone thinks Verizon wants someone to go over 100 GB over their 2 GB limit so they can make $1500 extra. Um no. Their network would crash if everyone used 100 GB a month. That pricing is there as a major incentive to NOT go over. If Verizon wanted people to go over to collect overage fees they'd price overages closer to $1 or $2 per GB.
I'm in the same boat. I have unlimited data on a 2000 minute shared plan. I don't want to lose the unlimited data so will have to stick with my 2 year old phones (HTC Thunderbolt). They were the hottest new phone at the time and still do a good job. I may drop my minutes back to 1400 to save $10 a month.
The $30 upgrade fee and the loss of unlimited data is too expensive for me to upgrade phones.
I will shop other carriers and make a decision. I like Verizon. The service and coverage is good.
A) If $30 is too much to upgrade you're going to have issues no matter where you go. Most other carriers will charge you an activation fee in excess of $30. Also when you are due and upgrade with them they will charge you even more than $30.
B) Who is going to give you unlimited data?
johnandroid wrote:
Lol.
That article is old but shows that the usage doubled between 1st quarter 2011 and 1st quarter 2012. We are in 1st quarter 2013. So if the average should be be near 1 GB per month now.
While wireless networks can provide a largely equivalent broadband experience for many applications, for ones that are extremely data intensive, wireline connections will remain a better choice for the foreseeable future. For example, users streaming Netflix movies in high definition consume about 4 Mbps. Typical LTE deployments use 10 MHz radio channels on the downlink and have a spectral efficiency of 1.4 bps/Hz, providing LTE an average sector capacity of 14 Mbps. Thus, just four Netflix viewers could exceed sector capacity. In the U.S., there are approximately 1100 subscribers on average per cell site hence about 360 for each of the three sectors commonly deployed in a cell site. In dense urban deployments, the number of subscribers can be significantly higher. Therefore, just a small percentage of subscribers can overwhelm network capacity.
This is one of the best explanations I've read. Thanks for the clarification. I always figured it was more than just making money involved in the decision to remove the unlimited option.
Now, the next question is, does the technology exist to improve on that? And is it not cost-prohibitive? Just curious...I like learning about this stuff.
I must say I completely agree that Verizon has done their customers wrong here. I tried to sign a new contract but the Verizon employee said they do not offer the unlimited plan any more. They looked at my history and said I have never gone over 2gb so I should just get the 2gb plan. I said "okay, how much?" To my surprise they said it's the SAME price as your currently paying for unlimited. I could not believe this person was actually telling me this with a straight face. Lets put this in perspective. You buy a Corvette that will do 180 mph. You want to buy a new Corvette but the dealership says you never go over 85 so instead you should but this Chevy Malibu because it will do 85 mph which is all you need, oh, but you have to pay the same amount you were paying for the Vette. Yeah, I'm sure everyone would call that a good deal. Same thing Verizon is doing here. I for one will NEVER sign another contract Verizon. Basicly, they want you to pay the same amount for less. Sorry Verizon, not gonna bend over for that one. Give me the 2gb plan for less than I paid for the unlimited plan, that would be acceptable.
sfsmadrush wrote:
This is one of the best explanations I've read. Thanks for the clarification. I always figured it was more than just making money involved in the decision to remove the unlimited option.
Now, the next question is, does the technology exist to improve on that? And is it not cost-prohibitive? Just curious...I like learning about this stuff.
Using more spectrum will help. Verizon is going to start rolling out LTE over 1700/2100 MHz later this year. Also there is the OTA TV spectrum auctions which will give Verizon some 600 MHz spectrum. That's probably 3 years away from being rolled out. Auction won't be until late 2014 to early 2015. Then there is refarming there 1x and 3G spectrum which Verizon plans on doing by 2021. Then there is this thing called LTE Advanced which will take some years to roll out that will help. At the end of the day though it still will never be as good as wired.
Also they can add more tower or "mini-towers" of course there is a cost associated with that. And you always have the "not in my back yard" crowd that would fight thing like that that makes getting those put up a much longer process than necessary.
What those that insist on unlimited data don't get is just ONE person tethering their phone to their PC so they can stream Netflix is using over 1/4 of all the bandwidth on a sector that might have hundreds of users. But somehow Verizon is being unfair to THEM for taking unlimited away.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
