$80 Prepaid SmartPhone coming to Prepaid...with 1GB Data

[avNY87]

I think you are misinterpreting that article.

It is an 80.00 phone, not plan and according to the article the plans cost are not yet known.

Sent from my Infuse 4G

It seems that the link posted in the OP is the one that did the misinterpreting. If you check their source (Fierce Wireless) you will see that it is actually the plan that is $80, not the phone.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/...one/2012-04-19

[Yeswap]

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Doh! I see it now, thanks.

[billm261]

Not sure @ the cost of the phone(s) for this $80 option, but VZW has verified the plan and price and devices that will be eligible for this option. It will be available as of May 1st, 2012.

The phone(s) price points will probably be released when they announce.

I guess we won't know till it's official



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[Yeswap]

It seems that the link posted in the OP is the one that did the misinterpreting. If you check their source (Fierce Wireless) you will see that it is actually the plan that is $80, not the phone.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/...one/2012-04-19

If you really go to the source which is the transcript of the Verizon investors conference call you will see that the Verizon exec actually says

"And in the next week or so, you're going to see us add in a smartphone to our prepaid product on an $80 price point with 1 gigabit of data."

Which is ambiguous enough to mean either a $80 plan or a $80 phone. Fierce Wireless interpreted that to mean a plan, others interrupted it as a phone. No one outside of Verizon really knows.

[vmobi]

If you really go to the source which is the transcript of the Verizon investors conference call you will see that the Verizon exec actually says

"And in the next week or so, you're going to see us add in a smartphone to our prepaid product on an $80 price point with 1 gigabit of data."

Which is ambiguous enough to mean either a $80 plan or a $80 phone. Fierce Wireless interpreted that to mean a plan, others interrupted it as a phone. No one outside of Verizon really knows.

VZW indicates $80 for the new plan that will be available May 1st, maybe they will offer the MOTO Citrus at the $80 price point too.

The Samsung Illusion is probably going to cost more than $100.

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[avNY87]

Do they still sell the Citrus?

[fonezfonz]

We'll know as of May 1st eh?

[Pabster]

Do they still sell the Citrus?

Yes, although I hope they phase it out. It's one of the worst phones ever. (IMHO)

[fonezfonz]

They should have called it the Motorola Lemon, for that's what it was...it sucked...lol

[billm261]

"And in the next week or so, you're going to see us add in a smartphone to our prepaid product on an $80 price point with 1 gigabit of data."

I'm not seeing any value with this plan @ 80 a month and 1GB of data.

I just today bought a 1.5 month old (with receipt) Droid Bionic LTE device for 25.00 more than the 2yr contract price on CL.
I'd bet the farm that no matter what device they bring to this offering, it can't stand in the shadow of the Bionic.

For 89.00 a month plus tax but minus corporate discounts you can go BYOD on Verizon postpaid and get 4GB of data.

I just don't see the value or advantage of this plan when they allow no contract on postpaid with BYOD. None at all.

Page Plus @ 55 a month is a better deal, much better.

[razr_fan]

If Verizon REALLY wanted to be competitive...they'd offer the $50 Unleashed with a $10 1GB Smartphone data pack. It would compete directly with Boost, Virgin Mobile and other carriers but have the benefits of being a smartphone on Verizon's network. Verizon would have a hit on their hands!

[vmobi]

If Verizon REALLY wanted to be competitive...they'd offer the $50 Unleashed with a $10 1GB Smartphone data pack. It would compete directly with Boost, Virgin Mobile and other carriers but have the benefits of being a smartphone on Verizon's network. Verizon would have a hit on their hands!

It looks like they are pricing the plan to match their coverage. They probably have no desire to compete against the low priced prepaid value carriers. This new plan probably is targeting subscribers that want a Verizon phone with Verizon service but for whatever reason decided to use prepaid service. If Page Plus did a better job of marketing their service they would probably do exceptionaly well with subscribers that prefer the Verizon network.

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[fonezfonz]

Update: Dug this up from a Colorado CSR. May 1, $80 plan with unlimited talk/text/mms/1 gb data. Smartphones to be limited to Verizon prepaid smartphones only at this time. The two models will be the Citrus and the Samsung Illusion.

The lack of postpaid Verizon devices being allowed kill it for me. If they opened up byod to any Postpaid device, it'd be better but still way above what PPC charges. Till Verizon starts to do away with their dicey byod policies, I don't see a lot of people flocking to it if they can get a better deal from say Boost/Virgin or Tmo monthly.

[26.2]

Thanks for the good info fonefonz.
I am not surprised at the details /offering of this plan.
I had thought that Verizon might use the new LTE network as a selling point for this plan (turns out not to be the case, given the phones).
If you look at Verizon's prepaid plan offerings, from a price standpoint, this is logical.
At 50 dollars the "Unleashed" (got to love that name, great marketing job).
At 80 dollars the new plan, to be introduced on May 1st.
At 94.99, the current prepaid smart phone plan (450 mins with text and unlimited data).
(Yes I know it is cheaper with out including text, 74.99).
So if I was Verizon and someone calls up to inquire about the prepaid plans, it should be an easy sell, to point out the customer is better off going down 30 dollars to a dumb phone and having unlimited everything or going up 15 dollars and having unlimited text and data.
Granted we know/believe that Page Plus's 55 dollar plan is superior to this new Verizon plan in both features and price (BYOB, unlimited voice), while offering the same amount of data on the exact same network (3g).
However, the normal customer, who walks into the Verizon store or calls Verizon, does not know Page Plus exists.
Most customers may have heard of Virgin and/or Boost. They might have even tried Virgin / Boost. However, they are coming to Verizon for the network (vastly superior network, i might add).
I am guessing Verizon would be content to keep on setting up displays of "Unleashed" phones and selling as many of these 50 dollar plans as possible.
Just one person's opinion, for what it is worth.

[billm261]

The two models will be the Citrus and the Samsung Illusion.

I don't see a lot of people flocking to it if they can get a better deal from say Boost/Virgin or Tmo monthly.

They are "Almighty Verizon" so it's good to see the King at least starting to acknowledge the prepaid people out there. Sad part is, the rates are still punishing for prepaid. AT&T is not any different but are very MVNO friendly.

I'll say it for the 99th time, buy a used phone on eBay or CL, go postpaid (NO CONTRACT) and enjoy so much more (like 4GB of data and a really good phone) for about 9.00 (we'll leave taxes and discounts out) more a month. If you have credit, there is no reason to be on Verizon prepaid IMO.

I just don't see them ever opening up 2GB of data on prepaid or an MVNO like PP.
Maybe when all of postpaid is switched over to LTE. Maybe...........