Verizon Wireless is quietly rolling out tiered pricing plans for mobile data usage, making it the latest carrier to shift to payment plans based on the amount of wireless data customers consume rather than the unlimited plans originally introduced to encourage smartphone adoption. Verizon Wireless customers will still be able to get unlimited data at an unchanged $30 per month rate; however, data misers will be able to cut that fee down to $14.99 if they can live within 150 MB of data transfer per month. Verizon Wireless has also introduced new tiered pricing for mobile hotspots, notebooks, and tablet devices, ranging from $20/month for 1 GB of data transfer to $80/month for up to 10 GB of data transfer, with varying fees data overage.
Verizon Wireless is characterizing the new pricing plans as “promotional” and hasn’t made any official announcement about the plans; indicating the company may continue to tweak tiered access terms based on consumer response and other factors.
Verizon Wireless indicated last month that it planned to convert over to tiered data plans, following AT&T’s decision to drop unlimited data services in June. The tiered data offerings have appeared just as Verizon Wireless is preparing to introduce its first LTE-based 4G services.
Interestingly, Verizon Wireless’s data plans for tablets indicate support for the Apple iPad; Verizon began offering the Wi-Fi only version of the iPad in its retain locations yesterday, as a bundle with Verizon’s MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot.
