Prepaid Reviews Blog » Verizon Wireless

LG VX5600 could be headed to Verizon prepay

Joe — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:30:07 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new prepaid phone, so I got kind of excited when HoFo user The Sweeper noticed a ditty on Phone Scoop that might be headed Verizon prepay soon. It’s the LV Accolade, a/k/a the VX 5600, which could be an upgrade to the 5500. It features a 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth, and really not much more. It fits perfectly with the new trend of releasing featureless but affordable prepaid phones. No mention of release date or price, but I assume soon and cheap.

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Verizon rumored to launch prepaid BlackBerry

Joe — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:30:35 +0000

When Verizon Wireless announced monthly prepaid plans that mirrored their postpaid offerings, I wondered if they’d start to allow data services. Previously, this was not an option. Verizon prepaid ran voice and text, and that was it. But with the new plans looking so much like postpaid, it seemed like they had opened up an opportunity. As we learned yesterday, Verizon indeed plans to offer a prepaid BlackBerry. The service should launch within the next three months.

We’ve seen a number of prepaid BlackBerry offerings, and one downside afflicts them all: handset price. Because prepaid users, by definition, do not sign up for two-year commitments, carriers do not offer a large subsidy, as they do for postpaid subscribers. This leaves older BlackBerry models, like the Curve 8330, with a high price tag, usually between $250 and $400. If you could find a Curve 8330 on a postpaid plan (they’re mostly phased out), you could probably get it for next to nothing with a two-year agreement.

To that end, the current report is that “the phones [will] run somewhere between the subsidized price and the full retail cost. I imagine the Curve 8530 will be the main phone for the prepaid BlackBerry, since it’s new but simple. It sells on VZW’s website for $49.99 with a two-year contract and online discount, and retails for $359.99. The price for the handset should fall somewhere into that range, and the closer to $200 it gets the more people it will attract. I think this because the $199 price tag is common for other subsidized BlackBerry devices.

As for the data price, it will cost $35 per month, or $5 more than postpaid. This goes along with the $5 increase in voice/text plans. So for $10 per month more than what you’d pay on postpaid, you can have your BlackBerry contract-free. Does that sound like the type of trade-off you’d make?

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Verizon adds monthly plans to prepaid lineup

Joe — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:30:07 +0000

In November 2007, Verizon did away with their popular EasyPay prepaid monthly plans. The reason, as they told it, was so they could focus more on their pay-as-you-go plans. They introduced new rate plans earlier that month, and with fees from 99 cents to $2.99 per day, it made sense that they wanted customers on those plans. But with other prepaid services changing to a rate plan system, Verizon has adapted. They’ve introduced new monthly plans that mimic their contract counterparts.

The above graphic describes the rate plans. They’re actually the same as the postpaid contract plans, but $5 per month more expensive and with no Friends & Family numbers. Though, how they charge an overage rate for an unlimited talk plan is beyond me. Like the new MetroPCS plans, the listed price is the final price. There’s no specific mention of it, but I assume unlimited mobile to mobile applies for prepaid.

What does this mean for Verizon’s pay-as-you-go plans? At $3.99 per month, the unlimited talk plan comes out to $120 per month, or $25 more than the new unlimited talk and text plan. The 5 cents per minute plan costs $1.99 per day, or $60 per month before you even make a call. Could we see Verizon dump these, or perhaps revamp them to give them a different value proposition?

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The difference between Verizon postpaid and prepaid coverage

Joe — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:30:45 +0000

Verizon Wireless has done a good job of marketing its services. It claims to be “America’s Most Reliable Wireless Network,” and openly displays its coverage map on TV commercials. While Verizon’s coverage claims are true for its postpaid network, it does not extend to prepaid coverage. Verizon’s network does not actually span the entire country. Instead, it covers a good portion, with gaps filled in by roaming agreements with other carriers. Verizon allows contract customers to roam in these areas free of charge, but in most cases prepaid users have to pay roaming fees. Since Verizon has its own prepaid service and a number of MVNOs, it is important to note the differences between prepaid and postpaid coverage.

This is Verizon’s postpaid coverage map.

Click for larger image

Verizon prepaid and their MVNOs — including Page Plus and Straight Talk — operate with this coverage map:

Click for larger image

If you’re planning to use Verizon prepaid or a Verizon MVNO, keep this in mind. Verizon might advertise a robust national network, and while they do provide good coverage for prepaid users, it’s not quite at the level of postpaid.

This post inspired by Howard Forums user wralford.

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Verizon releases its own low-end prepaid phone

Joe — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:07:05 +0000

We often see small, regional prepaid carriers introduce low-end phones. That’s because they don’t subsidize them. Lower end phones are a necessity for a market like that, because unsubsidized phones are so expensive. This time, though, it’s not a regional carrier. It’s Verizon Wireless. According to Howard Forum user The_Sweeper, the are now selling the CDM7076 on prepaid. It’s as basic as it gets, with no mid-range features except a VGA camera. It can browse the mobile Web, though, which is a plus. You can get the CDM7076 on the Verizon website for $39.99. That comes with $10 of airtime, though.

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for Tracfone Prepaid information on the web!

Verizon introduces prepaid wireless broadband

Joe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:30:32 +0000

Prepaid wireless broadband plans can benefit consumers. Instead of committing to around $60 per month for 5GB of data on a two-year contract, customers can use service when they need it, paying only for smaller intervals rather than the month as a whole. The problem, of course, is that absent a contract many carriers aren’t as willing to provide ample amounts of data (and some would say that even the 5GB on contract isn’t ample). Late last week Verizon announced prepaid wireless broadband plans. They come in daily, weekly, and monthly intervals, though the price, and most notably price per usage, is far more than their postpaid mobile broadband plan.

The full month of prepaid broadband will cost just $50, but will provide just one tenth of the postpaid data allotment, 500MB. Verizon will also offer a one week plan, covering 250MB for $30, and a daily plan, covering 75MB for $15. Again, it’s a bit expensive, but for the light user it could prove — maybe not a bargain, but at least a convenience.

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Verizon promoting prepaid service in NYC

Joe — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:55:48 +0000

I missed it! Apparently Verizon Wireless wants to make a splash with its prepaid service, at least in New York City. So on June 10, yesterday, when I roamed around the city all morning, they were offering 99 cent cab rides. True, there were only 40 cabs in the select fleet, but they were running to and from major destinations, but I just so happen to be walking up Fifth Avenue. You know, with the emblematic Apple Store. Anyway, I missed out, but it was still a quality promotion to bring awareness to Verizon’s 99 cent daily access charge. However, there will be another promotion later this month.

On June 23, Verizon will offer a Mr. Softee Ice Cream for 99 cents. Whoopee! This one I will not miss. The ice cream will be served from trucks at select points around the city, and if I find out exactly where before then, I’ll make sure to share it with everyone. Hopefully it’ll be a bit more summery by that point, and the ice cream will hit the spot on a hot New York summer day.

Best of all, this one will extend to the four major boroughs, so residents everywhere can take advantage of the deal. Hey, it’s a minor compensation for the blaring, horribly annoying song all these trucks play.

The strangest part about this promotion is that recently Verizon said that they wanted to concentrate on their postpaid offering. Has something changed between now and then? Or was the Verizon rep just misspeaking?

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Verizon has no plans to offer unlimited plan it already offers

Joe — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:00:19 +0000

Did you know that prepaid subscribers accounted for 80 percent of the adds in the U.S. wireless industry? It sounds like a lot, but when you look back on the earnings reports it makes sense. With Boost Mobile, MetroPCS, and Cricket wireless all turning in stellar quarters, with T-Mobile continually adding more prepaid subscribers than postpaid, and with Sprint continuing their subscriber hemorrhage, it starts to make sense. This has caused an industry-wide focus on prepaid. Well, except for Verizon. Their CFO, John Killian, spoke about the company’s postpaid strategy and why they won’t be expanding their prepaid offer. It’s quite funny, actually.

Here’s the quote from Killian: “We do not feel compelled or feel it’s the right strategy for us to go out with any kind of unlimited prepaid offering.” Any kind of prepaid offering, Mr. Killian? You mean the kind where you pay $3.99 per day for unlimited minutes? Because that’s what Verizon currently offers. It sounds like an unlimited plan of some kind, at the very least. Yet Mr. Killian thinks his company will not offer this.

While he’s probably speaking of a $50 flat-rate unlimited plan like his competitors, his wording could have been a bit more accurate to reflect Verizon’s current plans. No unlimited flat-rate offering? Fine. No unlimited prepaid offering of any kind? The company already beat you to it, John.

Lampooning aside, the most interesting part of the article was the 80 percent figure. I wonder what the prepaid-postpaid divide will look in the second quarter. It will go a long way in determining whether prepaid growth is an illusion or not.

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Verizon overhauls prepaid plans

Joe — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:30:08 +0000

It’s been 15 months since we saw Verizon eliminate their Easy pay plans in favor of tiered pay-as-you-go service, all with daily access fees. We’ve since seen them offer an unlimited messaging bundle, but other than that things haven’t changed much. They ran a pre-holiday press blitz in which they fooled many sites into thinking they had released new prepaid plans, but really were just pimping their old ones. Starting today, they really will get new prepaid plans. Much has stayed the same, but as always, the story is with what has changed.

Gone is the $2.99/day, 2 cents per minute, 2 cent text messages plan. I can’t imagine this was too popular anyway. Those who use the phone every day would be on the hook for $90 per month before calling and texting. Yet Verizon has replaced this with a $3.99 per day plan, or $120 if you use it every day. The plus is in the benefits: unlimited calling, all day, every day, plus text messages for a penny. This will clearly work better if you don’t use the phone every day.

The Prepaid Plus and Prepaid Core plans remain the same, charging $1.99 and $0.99 daily access fees, respectively. To match AT&T’s basic plan, Verizon has added a Prepaid Basic option, which bills calls at 25 cents per minute and SMS at 20 cents each.

Verizon has also listed a number or prepaid packages, which you’ll see listed below:

Not bad at all, especially for a major carrier. Will this cause anyone to switch to Verizon INpulse?

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Verizon Alltel merger to close today

Joe — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:30:04 +0000

We’ve known about it since the transaction in June, but today marks the closing of the Verizon Alltel merger. We know of a number of maneuvers Verizon had to make to get the deal done, including a number of divestitures in areas where Alltel and Verizon overlapped. It also included some asset swaps in areas where Verizon and Alltel were the primary services. So yes, as of today Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in America with 78 million subscribers. Our question: what does this mean for prepaid?

We’ve been asking this for a while, and no answer has become apparent. If Verizon reveals plans, we’ll clearly update to reflect that. As of the early a.m., though, we only know that Verizon plans to close Alltel’s Little Rock, Arkansas headquarters and move the entire operation to Verizon’s own HQ in Basking Ridge, NJ.

Losing Alltel’s prepaid plans would be a shame, but that’s what probably will happen. Gone are the 75 cents per day plans which give you unlimited mobile to mobile and unlimited text messaging (among other options). Hello are the dollar a day, 10 cents a minute rates. This cannot make Alltel U prepaid subscribers happy.

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for Tracfone Prepaid information on the web!