Verizon to cap data plans

(Updated, July 7)
BOSTON – Verizon is axing its unlimited data plan as of Thursday, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
The new 2 gigabyte cap will only affect new customers so there is one more day to sign up for the carrier’s $30 per month unlimited data plan.
Verizon follows AT&T Inc., which did away with its unlimited data plan last year. T-Mobile still offers an unlimited service but slows down data transfers on heavy users. Sprint Nextel Corp. is the only top wireless company that still offers unlimited data plans, the newspaper said.
Cox Communications, which offers a $30 per month unlimited data plan for smartphone users, left the door open to a possible data cap in the future when asked by Providence Business News.
“We continuously evaluate our service and pricing options to ensure we’re meeting the needs of our customers,” Amy Quinn, spokeswoman for Cox, said in an emailed statement.
Verizon will offer new plans for data-hungry users – a 5 gigabyte data plan for $50 or 10 gigabytes for $80. Beyond that, users will be billed $10 per extra gigabyte.
Limited plans “will certainly affect consumer behavior,” said Craig Moffett, a cellular industry analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein Co. in New York, to The Boston Globe. “If it’s going to cost more for the consumer to watch a video, they’re going to think twice before they click on that link of the squirrel on water skis.”
Two gigabytes of data allows users to send 1,000 e-mails, view 100 Web pages, listen to more than 20 hours of streaming music, upload more than 20 photographs or view more than two hours of high-definition video, the newspaper said.

No posts to display