"stevev" <pox19875@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:jssdvk$acq$1@speranza.aioe.org...
>
> "Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:jsr8dc$sji$1@dont-email.me...
>>
>> "tlvp" <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net> wrote in message
>> news:1h8jq2cqiyszv.h2qmjl9q1jr9.dlg@40tude.net...
>>> On Thu, 28 Jun 2012 09:29:10 -0700, Jeff Strickland riddled us:
>>>
>>>> I have 4G of data for a single phone ...
>>>
>>> ??? four GigaBytes/mo. of data *use*? Or an unspecified amount of "4G
>>> LTE"
>>> type data :-) ?
>>>
>>
>> I have a 4G-LTE device with 4Gb of data allowance.
>>
>> If I bundle my data plan to the new plan, then I get to share the data
>> between my phone and whatever tablet device I buy, but I cannot have 4Gb
>> of data for what I am paying now. I guess I have to look at this more
>> closely, I have a smartphone for $80 for more phone service including the
>> voice, text, and data packages. As I recall, the new pricing will cost me
>> more, and give less data -- more voice and text (that I don't care about
>> because I don't hit the limits now) -- that makes it more difficult to
>> justify a tablet device. I have two more phones that only do voice that
>> cost $20 ($10 each).
>>
>> I think the new plan will cost me more and give less data. I do not hit
>> the limits of the voice and text plans, so getting unlimited voice and
>> text is not important to me. I need more data that I can share among
>> devices that I do not own because I don't want to buy data plans for
>> them. I like the idea of shared data among all of my devices and
>> unlimited voice and text, but I don't want less data for more money. I
>> want the same data for the same price.
>>
>> The phone company sould not care what device in my arsenal is using the
>> data allotment, it should only care that I have x-number of gigabytes
>> that I can use, and I use too many and pay extra or I use too few and
>> they make money selling me bandwidth that I do not use.
>
> From an engineering point of view perhaps the phone company shouldn't
> care, but from a marketing (profit) point of view clearly they need to,
> and do, care.
>
What you say is true, but the fact is that the phone company is moving to a
strategy where does not care what device is using the data. Yes, text and
voice are smaller segments of the data stream over the network, not only is
there becoming less as a percentage of all of the stream but voice and text
take almost zero bandwidth when compared to streams of video and music. That
is, even if the data flow over the network was a static number, voice and
text are almost nothing relative to the capacity while other kinds of
streams take lots of the overall capacity. A text message is a burst of
usually less than decimals of a kilobyte, while the movie you are watching
at the same time is measured in megabytes.
The point I was making is that the phone company sells me 4Gb of data per
month for $30 -- some customers get unlimited data for this price -- and
they should not care that I have one device using all of the data capacity I
pay for, or if I have 100 devices using the data capacity. The new strategy
is a good one for me, but the data capacity that I will get will be less
than I have now, and my argument is that it should be the same for the same
price. If more devices make me need to buy more capacity, then fine. But to
come out and say, "all of your devices can now share the same data plan, but
the capacity that you pay for will be cut by more than half and the price
will almost double," is a bad thing to say to me. Some customers may like
the new plan and actually benefit a little bit, but I have avoided buying
another 4G-LTE device because the cost structure is prohibitive for my
needs. If I could simply take my existing plan and add a device that uses
the data capacity I already pay for but do not use, then I would be happy
with the strategy. The new pricing plan will cost me almost as much as the
current one and give me less data than I already get. I will get enough less
data capacity that it will not be useful to me to buy another device because
when I get enough data capacity to cover that device plus the phonen I
already have, then it will cost me more than I pay now and still be less
data capacity than I already have.
> Voice and text useage are declining, and so is their income from those two
> segments. It's why the new plans offer unlimited for both of those. They
> are making up the lost revenue in the third segment...data. And they are
> making it somewhat more attractive to spread the data charges over
> mulitple devices.
>
> But what if you aren't one of those customers?
>
That's the point, I'm not one of those customers. I could, would, buy
another device that would still keep me below my current data capacity if
that device could use the capacity that I already have. I'm happy to pay for
4Gb of data and use less than 1Gb because I might use more than 2Gb in a
particular cycle that will cost more for the overage than buying 4Gb in the
first place. Verizon wants me to get another device, that's why they are
allowing the data to be shared. The problem is, the new capacity to share
among all devices is less than I have now and costs more.
> Near the top of this thread was a post from someone with one smartphone,
> one "not-so-smart" phone, and unlimited data. I'm the same type of user,
> and for us there is no way to change phones, or plans, and NOT pay Verizon
> more money. Quite a bit more, in fact. The alternatives are to pre-pay
> or look elsewhere.
>
Verizon is on the verge of losing me as well. My pricing would be met at the
same levels as I am paying now but allowing me to have another device or two
to use that draw upon the data capacity that I already pay for but do not
use. If my data usage goes up, then my billing goes up. My billing should
not go up simply because I have another device that I want to use. If they
are willing to sell me 4Gb of data for $30, then I should be able to use
that 4G with any device I choose, and not have to buy another 4G of data for
every device I own. That is like the phone company of yesteryear charging
for phone service, then charging you to have a phoneset in your house, then
charging again for the second and third and fourth phones in other rooms.
The phone company (a judge decided) can charge to bring the wire and service
to your house, and you can plug all of the devices you want to that
connectioin without being charged again. (Frankly, I argue that TV service
should be ruled the same way -- the TV company gets to bring service to your
home, and you should not have to pay for the set top box that is needed to
actually use the service you are paying for. If you get premim channels,
then you have a higher fee for the added services, but the set top box
should not cost anymore and you should be able to have as many set top boxes
as you need for the TV sets that you have.)
Re: New Verizon Data Plan Details 
Linear Mode
