Verizon is Totally Changing the Way it Sells Cellphones

(AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

Hayley Tsukayama, THE WASHINGTON POST

 
(The Washington Post) — Verizon on Friday announced that it’s going to make buying a cellphone plan a lot more like buying a shirt. No, really.

Bid adieu to subsidized devices and the two-year contract, at least on Verizon. The carrier will now sell devices separately from their data plans and offer just four types of data plan — ranging from small to extra-large. Here’s a breakdown, from the company’s news release:

· Small: $30/month for 1GB of shareable data

· Medium: $45/month for 3GB of shareable data

· Large: $60/month for 6GB of shareable data

· X-Large: $80/month for 12GB of shareable data

As for devices, everyone will be buying their phones separately from their data plans for the full price of the phone — either in installments or all at once. That means an iPhone will cost $649 rather than that old familiar model of paying $199 upfront with a monthly device fee that more than covers the remaining cost of the phone over time. There will, however, will be a device access fee: every smartphone line will cost $20 per month, while Verizon’s tablets and “Jetpack” hotspots will cost $10 per month. Devices such as smart watches, the company said, will carry a $5 per month fee.

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