Force use of data plan

[ColDan]

Went into Verizon WIreless store to buy Unlocked Iphone 5 (I will own outright) and was told that any smartphone must have data plan/

This seems ureasonable as they do not subsidie the phone in any way and I am willing to spend $650.00 for the phone

   I do not understand how they can tell me what I must have on my phone

[#2]

You're not going to find major carrier that doesn't require a data plan for smartphones. You seriously want to pay $1.99 per MB in the chance you actually use data?

[ColDan]

But It still comes down to I WILL OWN THE PHONE, NOT VERIZON nor are they subsidzing the phone in any manner, way for fault/  And will be forced to buy a product I DO NOT WANT

[tikibar1]

Yes, you will own the phone, but Verizon owns the network ... if you want to activate your new phone on Verizon's network, you must have a data plan.  Otherwise, you have a shiney new iPod.

[#5]

ColDan wrote:

But It still comes down to I WILL OWN THE PHONE, NOT VERIZON nor are they subsidzing the phone in any manner, way for fault/  And will be forced to buy a product I DO NOT WANT

Just because you buy a car doesn't mean you can drive it on a toll road without paying.

[#6]

The thing is people that insist they'll never use data almost invariably do. Most times by accident. And if they had to pay $1.99 per MB they'd could easily end up $30 in overages for just 15 MB of use.

[rcschnoor]

You don't actually have to have it on the phone, however if you want to use Verizon's network it is required.

[rcschnoor]

No you are not forced to purchase a product you do not want, however if the product you want is Verizon's network,they get to set the pricing structure and required elements of your plan, not you.

[dimap52]

It's all going to data eventually anyway. These Shared plans with "unlimited" voice & text are first step along that route. The only reason there is a difference now is that V&T travel over a different type of digital network (circuit-switched) than data does (packet-switched) but that will change once VoLTE is implemented, and V&T will just be another data app. So yes, the carriers ARE justified in REQUIRING data plans on phones for technology reasons, but of course the real motivation is profit since that's where their money comes from, now that they give away V&T for "free".

As for buying a phone outright all that entitles the "owner" who pays $600 is the right to terminate his service any time without penalty. Nothing else in terms of what Verizon requires for providing service is affected in any way.

Wasn't the OP told he had to buy a "Share Everything" plan anyway?

[#10]

dimap52 wrote:

It's all going to data eventually anyway. These Shared plans with "unlimited" voice & text are first step along that route. The only reason there is a difference now is that V&T travel over a different type of digital network (circuit-switched) than data does (packet-switched) but that will change once VoLTE is implemented, and V&T will just be another data app.

Yep Verizon will start offering VoLTE next year of course it will be optional or an add on or something like that at first. But Verizon has said itself that it will be refarming it's 1X and 3G spectrum to LTE by 2021. That just 8 years. Of course they could do it sooner as they said BY 2021. Doesn't they'll wait until then. They could do it next year if they wanted too though It's highly unlikely. Wouldn't shock me if they decided to do it within 5 years.