Verizon Wireless nixing unlimited data for newbies

Verizon Wi-fi, the nation's largest wi-fi carrier, is finding rid of its limitless information plan for new smartphone clients starting Thursday, shifting instead to limited information programs that give consumers among 2 and ten gigabytes of data each month.

With the alter, Verizon joins the business of fellow carriers AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA, which have both set limits to monthly information usage. Sprint Nextel Corp., the country's third-largest carrier, still offers an unlimited program.

By obtaining rid of the all-you-can-eat data options, carriers are trying to move customers away from the expectation that they can have as much information as they want for one price and toward paying for what they really use ?a something that could be increasingly important as carriers invest in the rollout of higher-speed "4G," or fourth-generation, data networks.
"Let's be frank: We are setting the stage for the long term," Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Brenda Raney said Tuesday. "But it is giving consumers much more control about how they want to spend their discretionary dollars on wireless."

Later this week, new Verizon Wi-fi smartphone consumers will choose between paying $30 for two gigabytes, $50 for 5 gigabytes or $80 for ten gigabytes of monthly information usage. Buyers who use more than their allotment will be charged $10 more for each and every additional gigabyte.

Competitor AT&T charges $25 per month for 2 gigabytes of data, and $45 for 4 gigabytes. The over-allotment fee is the same.

Verizon Wireless' current unlimited plan costs existing users $30 per month. And while it may sound enticing to have unrestricted data usage, 95 percent of Verizon Wi-fi subscribers use less than 2 gigabytes per month.

Verizon Wireless buyers who already have an unrestricted data plan can keep it, whether or not they have a long-term contract using the organization. But existing buyers who want to trade up to a smartphone from a standard cell phone ?a often referred to as a feature phone ?a won't be able to get the unlimited information program beginning Thursday. A program for feature phone customers that gives them 75 megabytes of data usage per month will cost $10.

AT&T introduced capped data programs a year ago and T-Mobile changed its unlimited data program in May. T-Mobile doesn't charge overage fees, but it does slow the speed at which customers can send and receive information once they hit their monthly allotment.

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture among New York-based Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain.