[Discuss] Verizon wireless "mandatory" dataplan

[tmetro+blu at gmail.com (Tom Metro)]

Jerry Natowitz wrote:
> My daughter wants a new phone... She doesn't want the smart phone
> features, she wants the higher quality keyboard.
> She found a place selling the Palm Pre...

Is this something you expect to last a few years, or is it a "throw
away" solution that only needs to last 12 months or less?

If the former, then chances are good during that time your daughter will
see her friends using phones that can run apps and she will want a phone
that can do likewise. Once you've experienced a platform where you can
get an app for just about any imagined need, its hard to go back to a
more limited ecosystem.

Given this, I'd be looking at Android phones, many of which come with
keyboards. Unless the Pre is extraordinarily discounted, the Android
option won't cost any more, as there are so many competing phones to
choose from at just about any price point.

If you are concerned about the data requirements for apps, you'll find
that there are many apps that are still useful without data connections,
but more importantly, WiFi is often available in the places where people
spend most of their time.

If a physical keyboard is a top concern, I'd limit your choices to
models you can find at local stores so you can check them out. The
slide-out keyboards make phones heavier, bulkier, and more prone to
breakage. (You'll often see broken models on display in stores.)

Thanks to our silly carrier lock-in model, you'll need to settle the
carrier selection first, then see what phone you can get. (You'll pay
for the phone once, but the carrier costs go on forever, so its the more
significant choice.)

Once you have a phone picked out, I would look at used options, such as
eBay. You can definitely save a lot by getting a phone off contract,
though if the subsidy is already built-in to your monthly plan, that may
be a pointless endeavor unless you change to a different service, or are
adding a line to an existing plan.


> Some people say that smart phones will use the network stack rather
> than MMS service for emails and photo/sound/video.

Usually this isn't something that is happening beyond your control. The
communication channel is typically dictated by the app you choose to
use. Start your phone's texting app and it'll use SMS. Start the email
client and it'll use TCP/IP. Some phones will try and confuse these, but
if you go with a large ecosystem, like Android, there will always be
alternate apps you can install that provide better control.

In any case, this seems irrelevant. If you don't have data service, the
phone can't use it. Are you afraid the phone's attempt to use data
service will trigger a plan upgrade? Worse case scenario would be a
situation where you have a limited data plan, where exceeding your data
threshold costs more. But Android lets you turn off your cell data
usage, typically used when roaming where data rates are high. Also many
apps that download data in the background have options to only download
when connected via WiFi.


> She did some research and found that the data plan requirement only
> applies to phones purchased from Verizon or an associated dealership.

Bill Bogstad wrote:
> I would suggest that you speak to Verizon directly about this.

That seems like the best advice.

I can see how Verizon would do this as a bundling approach. "If you want
the iPhone from us, then you need to sign a contract for a plan that
includes data." But I don't see how they'd justify it if you brought
your own phone to join to an existing plan.


Jerry Feldman wrote:
> ...you may be better off with T-Mobile of MetroPCS.

Scott Ehrlich wrote:
> Take a look at Page Plus Cellular (pagepluscelluar.com)...a prepaid
> service...a Verizon MVNO.

It may be hard to beat the cost of adding a line to an existing family
plan, but worth running the numbers. You can save a lot with pre-paid
(or non-contract monthly) if you are bringing your own phone and don't
want data.

Another reseller to look at is Ting (https://ting.com/), a Sprint MVNO
started by the guys behind Tucows. They let you build your own plan
where you set the baseline quantity of voice, data, and text, and you
only pay for what you actually use. They also allow you to put
additional devices on the plan at $6/month per add-on device, and they
all draw on the same pool of voice/data/text.

I use T-Mobile as I like the idea of having a phone that works on two
competing US carriers, as well as internationally. Of course now data
networking (4G) is becoming more relevant than the voice bands, making
the world standard GSM less relevant.

(Anyone ever look at 4G interoperability? I see multiple previously
incompatible carriers are now using or deploying LTE. I presume at
minimum they'll be using different bands, which could in theory be
supported by a multi-band phone.

...imagine what it would be like if you could go to BestBuy, pick any
phone you want, pay for it in full without the real price being hidden,
and use it on any carrier, because either 1. the towers are ran by a
pseudo-government organization and the carriers only handle the back-end
service, or 2. all carriers use a common set of national standards and
share spectrum bands. #1 is never popular in the US, but cell equipment
manufacturers have apparently figured out how to do #2. There's just no
motivation for the carrier to adopt it.)

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/