Some five and a half years after killing its unlimited-data plan, Verizon (VZ) is resurrecting the offering, putting the carrier back on an even footing with competitors like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.
The move, announced Sunday, completes a remarkable turnaround for the industry. Back in mid-2012, only Sprint (S)
offered a plan with unlimited full-speed data, which, given its
horrible network then, wasn’t too appealing anyway. But in August 2012,
T-Mobile (TMUS) added an unlimited plan to its stable of offerings. In January, AT&T (T) brought back unlimited data for its subscription-TV customers. And now Big Red has joined the trend.
Here’s how Verizon’s unlimited plan compares to the competition’s.
Prices and prioritization
Verizon’s Unlimited offering
can actually be considered “unmetered,” as it does have some
limitations. But that’s also the case with the unlimited-data deals from
each of the three other nationwide carriers.
And
the severity of the restrictions on each so-called unlimited plan often
has little do with how much more or less it costs next to competitors’
plans — a lineup in which Sprint is cheapest, followed by T-Mobile, then
Verizon and finally AT&T.
Here’s how the plans shake out:
- AT&T
(reserved for DirecTV and U-verse TV subscribers): $100 per month for
one line, $40 per month each for the second and third lines. The fourth
line is free.
- Sprint: Sign up now through March 31, 2017 and you’ll pay $50 per month for one line, $40 for the second and nothing for the third and fourth lines through March 31, 2018. After that you’ll pay $60 a month for one line, $40 for a second and $30 each for the third and fourth. If you sign up after March 31, 2017, you’ll pay the standard $60 a month for the first line, $40 for the second line and $30 each for the third and fourth lines.
- T-Mobile: $70 per month for one line, $60 for the second line and $20 each for the third and fourth lines.
- Verizon: $80 per month for one line, $60 for the second, $22 for a third and $18 for a fourth.
The
most obvious limit is the point at which your data speeds slow if
your carrier’s network becomes congested. This doesn’t mean getting
kicked back to 2G speeds — the fallback, unmetered data service
AT&T, Sprint and Verizon provide on their limited plans — but could
mean slower webpages and poor streaming quality. It’s hard to say how
much this could impact you, though, as user reports about the severity of this “deprioritization” have varied widely.
AT&T
and Verizon will start to deprioritize your date after you use 22 GB in
a month, while Sprint sets its limit at 23 GB. T-Mobile says ranking
among the top 3% of its users, which the carrier says equates to burning
more than 28 GB a month, will see your data fall to a lower priority
level.
Other caveats: hotspots, high-def video
What
about using your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, otherwise known as
tethering? AT&T’s unlimited plan bans that, while Sprint limits it
to 5GB a month. Verizon, meanwhile, includes 10 GB of tethering. As of
Monday morning, T-Mobile offered unlimited tethering but at painfully
slow 3G speeds; that afternoon, it reversed course and said it would include 10 GB of full-speed tethering starting Feb. 17.
Video
also faces limits on most of these plans. While Verizon offers
unlimited high-definition video streaming, Sprint and AT&T constrain
streaming to 480p resolution, or DVD quality. AT&T lets you opt out of this “Stream Saver” feature
to watch movies at a higher resolution. Sprint (which also limits music
streaming to 500 kilobits per second and gaming to 2 megabits per
second) charges $20 extra per line for an “Unlimited Premium” plan that
enables high-definition video and quadruples music and gaming speed
limits.
T-Mobile’s
Monday switcheroo also ended the carrier’s policy of limiting streaming
video to 480p resolution. You’ll be able to get higher resolution
streams starting Feb. 17. If you’re already on the carrier’s T-Mobile
One unlimited plan, you’ll also be able to switch to this upgraded
version Feb. 17.
View photos
After Verizon announced its new ‘unlimited’ plan, T-Mobile announced updates to its own unlimited plan.
T-Mobile
and Verizon also specify that you must enable automatic payments on
your account to get the advertised pricing for their plans, while Sprint
requires that you use paperless billing. If you’re fond of mailing back
a check each month, look elsewhere.
Your alternatives
Whether these mostly-unlimited options work for you depends not on how much data you use, but on how you use it.
