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Verizon Wireless Unlimited Voice Plan Details  (Source: Verizon Wireless)
Can you hear me now that I have unlimited anytime minutes?

Days after the rumors began circulating all over the Internet, Verizon Wireless today updated its offerings by including plans with unlimited anytime minutes nationwide for a flat rate.

In addition to the limited minute plans the cellular provider has offered, Verizon is now ready to offer three new tiers: Basic, Select and Premium. The Basic Plan offers unlimited anytime minutes on a single line for $99.99 and features Verizon's Mobile Web 2.0 Internet browsing feature. The Basic Plan also covers roaming and long distance at no additional charge beyond the plan rate but Verizon does charge $1.99 per MB for data services.

The Select Plan offers the same deal as the Basic Plan but also include unlimited text messaging between anyone in the US no matter the cellular network. The Select Plan is priced at $119.99 monthly with the same $1.99 per MB fee for data.

The Premium Plan includes all of the services within the Basic and Select Plans, the unlimited anytime minutes and text messaging, but also adds V Cast VPak, VZ Navigator and Mobile email services to the mix for a monthly plan rate of $139.99 before taxes and fees. Under the Premium Plan, Verizon also includes unlimited data access.

Additionally, each new unlimited anytime minute plan has a matching Family SharePlan with a price schedule designed around the features included. The Family SharePlan is priced at $199.98 for the first two lines under the Basic Plan package, $229.98 under the Select Plan package, and $269.98 under the Premium Plan package with each additional line costing an additional $99.99 per month (or $119.99 for additions under the Premium Plan).

A maximum of five lines can be included in Family SharePlan plans and it seems there is no real discount in signing up to these plans as opposed to subscribing to individual lines for each family member except maybe some breaks on the handful of fees consumers love to pay.

Those who opt for the Basic Plan but want the additional features such as a limited messaging plan and/or V Cast will have to spring for the add-on options during the order process.

With the launch of this plan, Verizon Wireless is not the first to offer such plans but it is the only service to offer unlimited anytime minute-based plans at the moment.

As the news of Verizon's official launch materialized today, another large cellular carrier announced plans to follow suit and launch its own unlimited voice plans.

It seems that AT&T's wireless division feels it needs to provide its customers with unlimited anytime voice minutes similar to Verizon's Basic Plan package. At $99.99 AT&T subscribers can be free of the monthly limitations of the tiered calling plans. For an additional $50 per month customers can add unlimited texting and data usage bringing the total of a single line monthly rate to about $150 compared to Verizon's Premium Plan rate of $139.99 per month.

Availability of these unlimited voice plans from AT&T is set for February 22, 2008, which is just a few days after Verizon Wireless' announcement.

AT&T has gained some ground lately as it has taken over T-Mobile's role as the WiFi Access provider for Starbucks and with this announcement it's hard to think that they don't feel a little threatened by Verizon.

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Other providers offer unlimited plans
By Phillipma on 2/19/2008 1:55:36 PM , Rating: 2
There are other companies that offer unlimited anytime minutes. They just are not the size of verizon or AT&T.




RE: Other providers offer unlimited plans
By Murst on 2/19/2008 2:02:12 PM , Rating: 3
Yep...

I've had an unlimited plan from my local carrier (who is partnered w/ ATT) for over 4 years now. With a data package (granted, the data package is pretty crappy), my phone bill is just over $57 w/ taxes.

These plans still seem like a ripoff.


RE: Other providers offer unlimited plans
By Oregonian2 on 2/19/2008 2:53:13 PM , Rating: 2
'Course it depends upon just how much one can talk, and importantly when. We've the AT&T lowest-minutes family plan (wife and I) where nights and weekends are unlimited anyway -- and we still roll-over minutes every month (something over a thousand banked up, think we still don't use a couple hundred a month). And it's a lot less than $99/month (we used to have Verizon "forever" before switching purely for getting GSM sets for international use -- and I will say that I liked their service very well other than not being GSM).


RE: Other providers offer unlimited plans
By FITCamaro on 2/19/2008 3:42:06 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah I agree. I mean I honestly wonder how some people can use so many minutes. I guess if you're a private businessman who is on the phone constantly, this plan would be cheaper than some more expensive options.

But for the family plans, this option really isn't that great a deal. I mean you'd have to have a pretty talkative couple to need two phones with unlimited minutes for $199 to be justifiable. And to charge another $100 per line? I mean maybe I could see $149 a month for a two line unlimited family share plan with extra lines being $20-30 more each. But $400 a month for a family of 4 to talk unlimited?

I mean my entire family and nearly all my friends are on Verizon. So with free in-network calling, I barely use actual minutes.


By Murst on 2/19/2008 6:44:03 PM , Rating: 3
About 7 years ago I got my cell phone bill and it was just over $700 for a single month of service cause I went over my minutes so much.

I probably spent 4 hours on the phone per day back then. Now I look back at it and laugh, but back then, that bill really hurt :(

I guesss what I'm getting at is that some people will see benefit in these plans, even at these prices (although they're still a ripoff).


By Oregonian2 on 2/19/2008 7:51:30 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, you reminded me. ATT's family plan in addition to already being unlimited evenings and weekends, it's also unlimited for mobile-to-mobile (to any other ATT cell phone) as well.

So the minutes only are used during week-days to non-ATT cellphone numbers. And even then the unused roll over (expiring after a year).


Too expensive for me
By Polynikes on 2/19/2008 1:53:20 PM , Rating: 5
I have T-mobile, solely because they have a plan that's $29.99. That's how little having a cell phone is worth to me. I hardly use it at all, I only get 300 anytime minutes and free weekends, not even free nights. I'd like a cheap, basic unlimited voice plan (I avoid texting and never use my phone for surfing the net) without such harsh constraints on my minutes.




RE: Too expensive for me
By Alias1431 on 2/20/2008 3:18:21 AM , Rating: 2
It's called a land line!


RE: Too expensive for me
By Polynikes on 2/20/2008 12:47:46 PM , Rating: 2
Land lines don't help when you get a flat on the highway. I still need something that can be used outside my house. :P


RE: Too expensive for me
By oab on 2/20/2008 8:09:43 PM , Rating: 2
CB radio.


RE: Too expensive for me
By Zoomer on 2/20/2008 5:44:16 PM , Rating: 2
Or a voip service.


unlimited html browsing on a limited browser
By SlipDizzy on 2/19/2008 1:54:34 PM , Rating: 2
The unlimited mobile web browsing is pretty useless if you ask me. I wish I could browse websites like other carriers let you. The only time I really use the HTML feature is to check sports scores or check my gmail.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what you can do with this crappy browser, please let me know.




RE: unlimited html browsing on a limited browser
By HrilL on 2/19/2008 7:46:27 PM , Rating: 2
while on my old phone I used to read the news and use gmail that was about all it supported. I have the iPhone now and use it for everything other then flash stuff. My old phone wouldn't do dailytech since it ran out of memory it would tell me. Now I pay my bills, check my bank account, do some shopping, and pretty much everything I would do on my computer. I use on average 100-150mb of data a month so if I had to pay verizons 1.99 I would be paying 300 a month. Good thing unlimited data is only 20 more then my bill. Only downside is my old phone was 3g and I could use it as a data modem something the iPhone surely lacks.


By dude on 2/20/2008 12:37:22 AM , Rating: 2
Agreed. I use my iPhone for everything, from banking to checking the weather to news. Only sites I can't visit are flash sites.

Otherwise, it has nearly replaced my laptop. If it only had a slot to stick SD cards in, it would replace my laptop as I use SD cards to copy pics over from my camera to phone and email them to my business associates.

Another thing is if it was 3G, the internet would be faster. I'm a little annoyed at slow browser loads and the like.

If I had to pay for data services, it would be ridiculous for me. I use approximately 15 MBs a month upload and 100 MBs a month for downloads.


wait, what?
By SandmanWN on 2/19/2008 2:00:14 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
A maximum of five lines can be included in Family SharePlan plans and it seems there is no real discount in signing up to these plans as opposed to subscribing to individual lines for each family member except maybe some breaks on the handful of fees consumers love to pay.


Single line = 139
Family share = 119
Thats 20 per line x3 for $60 per month in savings. I don't know, maybe I'm blind, maybe I'm crazy, but I might just possibly see a discount there.




RE: wait, what?
By FluxCap on 2/19/2008 2:28:02 PM , Rating: 2
These plans are nice and I would like to be on the Basic plan when I go back to Verizon. However, I will stick with $20 for unlimited data on my iphone for now. $1.99 per mb would kill my bill.


RE: wait, what?
By thornburg on 2/20/2008 9:32:10 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Single line = 139
Family share = 119
Thats 20 per line x3 for $60 per month in savings. I don't know, maybe I'm blind, maybe I'm crazy, but I might just possibly see a discount there.


Take another look at that chart:

Basic Plan:
One line $99.99, two lines $199.98, each additional line $99.99. Where's that discount?

Select Plan:
One line $119.99, two lines $239.98, each additional line $99.99. There a small discount for each additional line after the first two.

Premium Plan:
One line $139.99, $269.98, each additional line $119.99 or $99.99. Again, a small discount for the 3rd plus lines.

So, yeah, there's a discount for 3rd, 4th, and 5th lines on the upper plans. The rest of it, no discount.


Let me know when the price is $29.99
By iFX on 2/19/2008 7:58:31 PM , Rating: 2
Unlimited voice and data. Then I'll get it.




By Cr0nJ0b on 2/19/2008 8:07:04 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I'm paying $149 for 3000 minutes today PLUS another $45 for data...I think this sounds a lot better for me. Not to mention the times I go over the limit on minutes and start hitting the golden $1.00+ per minute rate thereafter.

I have to call my corporate guys and see about getting some of this.


Helio's Uber Ulimited Package
By SiliconJon on 2/19/2008 7:29:06 PM , Rating: 2
While I tried two different Helio Ocean's and wound up bailing before my 30 day happines guarantee expired, I was incredibly satisfied with my wireless service as well as Helio's customer service - but I had a bad luck streak with two Ocean's in a row (though I think it may have been the hands-free headset that was breaking the devices, likely jamming the jack).

Helio has their uber-unlimited package for $99/mo, which includes: voice, data, messaging, and on gps on supporting devices.

Just thought I would throw that out there since that's a great price.




dont be shocked
By cciesquare on 2/19/2008 7:37:21 PM , Rating: 2
dont be shocked, but I know lots of people who have paid 300-500 monthly on their phone bill because of overcharges. Of course these are mostly very very young people.