At the tail end of last week, we heard a rumor that Verizon may be planning to finally introduce tiered data plans on July 7th, the day after its free 4G LTE hotspot promo wraps up. There weren't any details on pricing at the time, but today the folks at Droid-Life claim to have the details on the various tiers that Verizon will offer and how much we'll be paying for them. According to the site, Big Red's data tiers will break down like this:

• 2GB for $30 per month
• 5GB for $50 per month
• 10GB for $80 per month

The pricing and data allotments are said to apply to both 3G and 4G smartphones, and tethering will allegedly set you back an additional $20 per month for 2GB of data. Finally, Droid-Life is claiming that there aren't separate plans for devices, meaning that if you're currently under contract with a 3G phone and unlimited data, you don't need to run out and snag a 4G phone before the 7th to keep your plan.

So how do these new plans stack up? Well, AT&T currently offers two tiered data options to its customers: $15 for 250MB or $25 for 2GB. Verizon's 2GB option is $5 more than the one on AT&T, although AT&T doesn't offer any data plans higher than 2GB, which I suppose is good news for those data-hungry VZW customers that won't be able to get on unlimited data before July 7th. What do you all think of Verizon's rumored data tiers? Anyone planning to run out and grab an unlimited plan while you still can?

UPDATE: It looks like the move to tiered pricing is all but confirmed. Android Central was just handed a letter from Lee Williams, South Area VP of Marketing and Sales, which mentions that data plan changes are coming. There's no talk of pricing, but I wouldn't be surprised if the figures you see above end up coming to fruition. The full letter from Lee Williams is below.

UPDATE 2: And if you need a little more confirmation of the impending changes, Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney has told All Things D that her carrier "will move to a more usage based model in July."

"The Next Generation of Data Pricing – Our Evolution Amidst an Industry
Revolution
June 20, 2011Comments (0)
Greetings team, it’s Lee, your Area Vice President of Marketing and Sales
Operations. As we approach the summer solstice, I wanted to reach out to the
team and overview what I believe represents a significant and exciting
evolution around how we package data solutions to our customers and the
marketplace.

The Revolution is Upon Us…
In what has been a year of amazing performance by the South Area including
company leading year-over-year churn improvement, successful introduction of
the iPhone 4, strong post paid gross and net adds and industry leadership in
launching our 4G LTE network; we find ourselves entering into a period of
transformational innovation within Verizon Wireless and the wireless industry
as a whole.

Our ability to out execute and deliver upon the promise of The Credo everyday
has allowed us to maintain the industry leadership. At the same time,
accelerated market expectations coupled with the introduction of many
emerging solution categories has created new opportunities for us to meet and
exceed the needs of our customers.

Data Pricing Evolution…The Present
Our legacy data pricing structure was designed to address a somewhat
different customer need profile than what we are seeing and can expect in the
future.

Consider this. Data usage has more than doubled over the last three years.
Consumers and business users alike are doing more and more with their mobile
devices. The notion of “send and end” has migrated to “managing
multiple aspects of one’s lifestyle through mobility.” Whether it’s
social media (85%+ of Smartphone users), mobile internet (88%+ of Smartphone users), or email/applications (71%+ of Smartphone users), this usage has one thing in common—dramatically increased demand for data and media consumption.

As a result, we are evolving our approach around how we package our data
solutions and pricing to our customers. Coming soon, Verizon Wireless will
move from our existing pricing format to a structure designed to allow
customers to choose the right data solution that best aligns with their
needs.

The Value Benefit Equation...
With the new usage based pricing plans, the vast majority of our customers
will be able to enjoy their typical level of data consumption for the same
value that they outlay today. Additionally, for those who have greater
requirements for data, we will have solutions that they can tailor to their
unique needs.

Perhaps more importantly, given our strong desire to continue to provide
enhanced capability and value to our customers, the new data pricing will
apply to both our 3G AND 4G LTE networks. So in essence, for those customers in our ever and rapidly expanding 4G LTE network coverage footprint, users will gain the benefit of the fastest and most advanced 4G LTE network in the U.S. all for the same usage based value. More speed. More functionality. Same value.

Let’s Do What WE Do…
Our expectation to extend our market leadership will be largely dependent on
our demonstrated ability to “operationalize” in the face of an
ever-changing environment. The successful launch of our new data pricing
solutions represents a key milestone in our continued march to excellence.
Over the next few weeks, you will be receiving much more insight,
information, and learning opportunities around this significant evolution in
how we provide our industry leading best solutions, to the right customer,
that best satisfies their needs.

I have every confidence in our ability to execute this flawlessly because it
is the Verizon Wireless and South Area way. Our customers expect and deserve
nothing less.

To paraphrase a quote from a favorite cinematic masterpiece of mine from the
80’s, Top Gun, “Verizon Wireless is engaged. The South Area has the
lead…” Let’s do what we do."

Via Droid-Life, Android Central