Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Verizon To Discontinue iPhone Data Plans Later in Year

Those who opted to pick up the Verizon iPhone once it became available on the Big Red they were treated to a 30 buck unlimited data plan for the iconic smartphone; however apparently that Verizon iPhone data plan was only a temporary measure.

According to an article over on Macrumors, Bloomberg is reporting that Fran Shammo, Verizon’s CFO has stated at a conference call that the data plan for the iPhone 4 is “not a long term solution.” Thus it would appear that Verizon will discontinue the iPhone data plan this summer.

In a separate report by Reuters, their article quotes the CFO as saying… “We will probably do that in the mid-summer time frame,” and went on to clarify that Verizon kept the unlimited data plan for first time iPhone customers because they “didn’t want to put up a barrier” to customers that wanted the iPhone on the Verizon network.

Apparently though existing Verizon iPhone customers are expected to be able to continue their unlimited data plans right to the end of their agreed contract term, but may have the option to switch to a limited data plan if so choosing to do so.

So there you have it, if you have a Verizon iPhone with a $30 unlimited data plan you can wave goodbye to it either by summertime or at the end of your contract. What are our reader’s views on this, a good move by Verizon or bad?