Why am I paying 40$ a month for smart phone access when I'm already paying 90$ for my data?

[maintenancechick]

My sister has AT&T and even if you take away my edge rent to own paying double for my tablet because it was easy agreement, her 4 smart phones and hot spot with 10 gigs of data STILL COST LESS/ MONTH... I only have ONE SMART PHONE.... The other phone on the account doesn't even TEXT.... Just seems like we're paying for line access TWICE... $90/month for 8 gbs PLUS 40/ month to CALL AND TEXT?? There are pre paid plans that offer unlimited calling text and data for 45/month... When are loyal Verizon customers really gonna get MORE EVERYTHING... Because right now it seems like contract customers are paying the balance of prepaid losses.. Don't get me wrong.. I like my devices and know I can lower data, but its that ADDITIONAL line access when you're already paying so much for data that seems crazy... Anybody else feel this way?? I mean.. AT&T has commercials 10 gigs of data unlimited blah blah family of 4 @ 160 MONTH!!!! I have ONE smart phone... and ONE calls only phone... and ONE tablet I use as a PC (and LOVE even though I'm paying through the nose... Oh.. except I can't stream AMAZON Prime videos and that's not cool but I suppose that's not a Verizon issue...) My bill is over 200/ month... Kinda crazy... anybody?

[Tidbits]

The $160 a month is without any payment plans.  If you BYOD(Bring your own device) you have to include the total costs and compare them over 2 years.  If you use their Next depending on the devices the prices are negligible. That's how AT&T gets you.

Unless you BYOD the prices difference is like $5-10 at best.

[rcschnoor]

Verizon prices are almost identical to AT&T prices. If your sister on AT&T has lower prices, it is because she does not have contracts on her phones and is receiving a line access fee discount. When your contracts end, you would be eligible for similar discounts on smartphones. Any smartphones currently on Edge would also be eligible for similar discounts.

[Weth · Accepted solution]

If you are on Edge payment plan, why are you paying $40/month access, it should be $30 or $15 depending if you are below 10GB or at 10GB or more. As stated above, the pricing plans between AT&T and Verizon are almost exactly the same.