Having been a Verizon customer for roughly a year now, I can say that a benefit of being on the Big Red would have to be their $30 unlimited plan. I’m not certain why a special case would be made for the iPhone where people couldn’t get an unlimited plan, but if those worries were keeping you up at night, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Verizon iPhone will have an unlimited plan available.
The carrier’s heir apparent and chief operating officer, Lowell McAdam, told us the news ahead of the company’s meeting with investors.
“I’m not going to shoot myself in the foot,” he said. Not offering an unlimited plan would put up a barrier for customers who might otherwise switch from AT&T, he said.
I don’t find it interesting that the iPhone will have an unlimited data plan (though skeptical wannabe-AT&T converts can now jump for joy): it’s more interesting that the $30 plan may be the only option available. Verizon does have a $15 plan at 150 MB a month for smartphones, but that will be axed in favor of upcharging customers with to the lure of LTE (the irony in our case being the iPhone 4 is CDMA only). Engadget reports that only feature phones would have the option of a 75 MB data plan for $10.
Update: As Verizon giveth… Verizon taketh away. An update via WSJ admits:
But you’d better act fast. Speaking later Tuesday morning, Mr. McAdam said the iPhone unlimited plan will be a temporary offer and that the carrier will follow AT&T’s move to tiered pricing in the not too distant future.
The axing of the unlimited plan shouldn’t exclusive to the iPhone: all phones available on Verizon’s network would move to tiered pricing.
