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Verizon
Starting today, Verizon is giving its prepaid subscribers extra data at no additional cost.
The $45 rate plan now allows for up to 1GB of high speed data, which is double its previous allotment of 500MB. As an added incentive, Verizon will toss in an another 500MB for anyone who signs up for the automatic bill-pay option, Auto Pay.
The prepaid smartphone plan includes unlimited nationwide talk and text messaging as well as unlimited texting to Mexico and Canada. A $10 per month international long distance feature allows for unlimited calls to both countries.
Customers looking for even more data can purchase add-on buckets of 500MB, 1GB, or 3GB. The smaller of the three is good for 30 days while the other two do not expire for 90 days.
Prepaid pressure?
For a company that claims to be a wireless leader and not a follower, this new prepaid plan suggests that Verizon is indeed responding to industry pressure. As a competitive offering, the plan on its own isn’t all that exciting and barely keeps pace with other carriers. However, Verizon is at least paying attention to the field.
Related Links
- Verizon’s subscriber growth continues to hum, even as defections rise
- Verizon: Don’t expect us to offer a data rollover plan
- T-Mobile outshines rivals in luring new subscribers
In contrast, this week saw T-Mobile’s prepaid brand, MetroPCS, announcing a promotional $50 rate plan with unlimited talk, text, and data. Its normal $40 plan, by comparison, currently includes 2GB of 4G LTE data.
Things will continue to heat up on the prepaid front as the carriers jockey for position. I suspect that Verizon won’t stay put for long and may offer even more flexible options before the year is out.
