In another sign that competition is bringing down wireless bills, Verizon on Wednesday cut most of its data plan costs by $10. A plan with one gigabyte of shared data will now start at $30 per month instead of $40, two gigabytes will start at $40 instead of $50, and so on. (Well, for the most part—the eight-gigabyte plan is only getting $5 cheaper a month). As Ina Fried notes over at Re/code: “The reductions are notable as Verizon has been the most resistant of the carriers to join in the ongoing price battle.” Other carriers, particularly Sprint and “uncarrier” T-Mobile, have been much more aggressive in pursuing cheaper, more comprehensive offerings.
Verizon via Re/code
It’s now clear that while Verizon may not be enthusiastic about entering the pricing fray, it can no longer stay on the sidelines. That’s only good news for consumers. A similar example came in early January, when AT&T announced it would start letting customers on its Mobile Share Value plan carry over their unused data to the following month at no additional cost. AT&T’s policy change occurred less than a month after T-Mobile made a similar change, such that customers can roll over their unused monthly data for up to a year. (This “personal data stash” concept was also the subject of T-Mobile’s Super Bowl commercial featuring Kim Kardashian.)
Crucially, it appears to be on Verizon Wireless customers to take advantage of the cheaper data-plan prices. In the company’s release, it states that “existing customers can change their plans at any time by visiting MyVerizon.” Or, as Fried explains it, customers can opt to either get an additional gigabyte of data for the same amount or get $10 off their monthly bills, but they need to be proactive to make either happen. So, Verizon customers, consider this your PSA. Now go save $10!
