Shortly after issuing a brief statement on its data plans, Verizon has now clarified the situation surrounding its unlimited data offerings and what'll happen with them once it introduces shared data plans. In a statement sent to The New York Times, the carrier explains that once data share plans are launched, customers that upgrade to a new device at a subsidized price will no longer be able to hold on to their unlimited data plan. Any customer that buys a new device at full retail price will be able to keep their unlimited data plan. The full statement from Verizon:
"- Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
- When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
- Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.
-The same pricing and policies will be applied to all 3G and 4GLTE smartphones."
Verizon Communications CFO Fran Shammo caused quite a hubbub with his statements yesterday about 3G unlimited data customers being moved to shared data plans when upgrading to a 4G device, so it's good to see the carrier make things nice and clear with this latest statement. For those of you with an unlimited plan that either don't plan on upgrading or are ok with buying devices at full retail price, it looks like you'll be able to enjoy a bottomless bucket of bytes for the foreseeable future. If you've got an unlimited plan and want to upgrade to a subsidized device while still holding onto that plan, though, you should probably plan on making that purchase soon.
