Verizon to offer service without a contract?

When it comes to BlackBerry news, I often turn to Boy Genius Report for scoops. They’ve got inside sources with not only service providers, but with Research In Motion, so they always have exclusive content. Today, though, we get a little news on the prepaid end. According to their sources, Verizon will soon offer contract-free plans, much like T-Mobile FlexPay. The rumor has these plans dropping on September 21, which is this Sunday. We’ll be awaiting an announcement. For now, here are the supposed details.

As expected, this negates any subsidy offered by signing a one- or two-year contract. In no way did we expect any cell carrier to continue offering subsidies on contractless service. It’s a downer, of course, but hey, we prepaid customers pay full price all the time. So it’s not like we’re not used to it.

With month to month, there’s no way to avoid paying an activation fee. I’ve seen places where they’ll waive the fee if you purchase a certain phone. Not with this.

Of course, since this is still technically a postpaid offering, month to month customers are still subject to a credit check. So this still won’t appeal to everyone. If you’ve got poor credit, INpulse it is for you. But if you can get through Verizon’s purportedly strict check, you can select from among Verizon’s numerous service offerings. You’ll still pay at the end of the month, but you can cancel whenever you want, so long as you’re paid up.

While it’s nice to think that this might signal a change in the wireless landscape, it probably doesn’t. Verizon really has little to lose with this deal. Perhaps it’s an experiment to see what consumers really want: discounts and contracts, or full price and freedom.

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