# Why did Verizon Wireless give me this deal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119 "2014-12-02T14:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/21 "2014-12-02T22:59:01Z")
I flipped out on T-Mobile the other day because they are eliminating my expensive but unlimited-4G-data plan and migrating me to a cheaper-but-capped plan. In the middle of my contract. The CSR assured me that I would retain my unlimited data service as a courtesy after the plan switch but I am not convinced. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/22 "2014-12-03T00:22:50Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > I recently made the change from 8GB to 10GB on Verizon. I didn’t get a call, but a text when I was close to the 8GB offering an additional 7GB for $10 (which would have put me in the 15GB plan). I was interested so I went online to discover the 8GB plan was no longer offered. I took the 10 GB plan for $10 less. I’m so happy you posted this- I didn’t get close to the 8GB so I didn’t get a text. But now I saved $10, too! ---
**Author:** ![Hayden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/91b2a8/32.png) [@Hayden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayden)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/23 "2014-12-03T01:58:16Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I flipped out on T-Mobile the other day because they are eliminating my expensive but unlimited-4G-data plan and migrating me to a cheaper-but-capped plan. In the middle of my contract. The CSR assured me that I would retain my unlimited data service as a courtesy after the plan switch but I am not convinced. It’s typically standard procedure that you’re grandfathered in to unlimited data if you had it before they eliminated it. Where did you hear that you’d be migrated to a cheaper but capped plan? I’d imagine the customer service rep you spoke to was indeed correct and you’ll keep your plan. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/24 "2014-12-03T04:34:50Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > A long time back, wise if wacky man said that “a long distance call is a costless byproduct of the telephone system.” I’m not sure if he’s still in the game, but that law could be updated to “data traffic is a costless byproduct of the mobile telephony system.” > > Once a system is built, the carriers can’t make a dime except by hanging an arbitrary meter on the flow. There’s nothing about that flow that costs them anything significantly extra - zero traffic or maxed out, allee samee, pretty much - so it’s all a market-adaptation move to get the maximum return from the minimum quantities. Not sure if that is an analysis of the economics of telephony, or a criticism of telephony companies for their rate structures. Yes, once the system it built out there is negligible marginal cost to carry a call/packet of data. But the infrastructure has to get paid for somehow. This is similar to the software industry–companies spends many millions on development and when you buy Microsoft Office you’re spending a couple hundred dollars on two bucks’ worth of plastic. Or on a bucket of bits if you download. That doesn’t mean there is anything underhanded about it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/25 "2014-12-03T15:20:04Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Not sure if that is an analysis of the economics of telephony, or a criticism of telephony companies for their rate structures. In the day (pre- and immediately post-AT&T breakup), it was more an indictment of the uncompetitive rate structure than anything else. In the present, it’s a reminder that things like voice minutes and data capacity are arbitrary commodities, essentially bottomless and costless once the “carrier” infrastructure is built. I’m in no way saying that Verizon shouldn’t recoup its costs or charge for the use of its monstrously expensive system - just pointing out that there is almost no difference in runtime cost between zero and max-normal usage levels. This viewpoint can help sort out why carrier companies do many of the weird things they do in pricing and packaging their services. (To turn it around, thinking of minutes as some hard commodity that needs to be grown, mined, refined, stored, shipped etc. leads to some very twisted thinking… but the carriers use that mindset to their advantage in pricing and marketing.) ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/26 "2014-12-03T16:18:41Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > He told me I was currently paying $90, which I confirmed is the correct base rate, and the new plan would be $80. Neither rate takes into account potential overages. Actually my 16-year-old son is the data hog and I was going to flog him into using less so I could reduce the data plan; now it won’t be necessary. Bearing in mind that I know a/ America is a lot bigger than Britain; b/ Britain is a lot more cell-phone crazy: prices in America seem insane considering I could get a **[Virgin SIM](http://store.virginmedia.com/virgin-media-mobile/sim-only/pay-monthly-sim.html?buspart=google&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=%20virgin%20mobile%20sim&utm_campaign=B_BRAND_SIM&k_clickid=40d2826d-1313-7169-3364-00004d114789)**, shoving it in any phone, and pay £20 a month for unlimited calls, unlimited text, and unlimited data. Or less if I chose other options. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/27 "2014-12-03T16:39:14Z")
For some strange reason url for Virgin Sims refused to appear. > **[Cheap Pay Monthly SIM Only Deals & Offers | Virgin Media](https://www.virginmedia.com/mobile/sim-only/pay-monthly-sim)** > > Discover our cheapest SIM Only deals and Pay Monthly offers from Virgin Mobile. Get great mobile benefits, including data rollover and superb coverage. Now on O2's superfast 5G network. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/28 "2014-12-03T17:08:59Z")
It’s pretty useless to compare the US and Europe on many levels - that the UK is smaller than most US states alone is a game-changing matter for things like mobile phone service. To be competitive, Verizon et al. must provide a nationwide network that is probably 30-100 times bigger in infrastructure than any UK provider’s. There are regional providers here, many that rent carrier space on the big networks, that are much cheaper. If you don’t mind slightly second-rate service (and not even that, in most city zones) and service restricted to your local metropolis, you can get very inexpensive service. That may be a closer match to the UK model, or most European models. Of course, some very large number of cell phone users would be perfectly well-served by a regional carrier and plan; they’d pay far less in roaming or other charges on their infrequent jaunts outside the home city. But like most things in the US, cell service is sold on the Vegas buffet model. Starts humming “Mr. Siegal” again, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119/29 "2014-12-03T17:10:26Z")
> [@Hayden](#): > > It’s typically standard procedure that you’re grandfathered in to unlimited data if you had it before they eliminated it. Where did you hear that you’d be migrated to a cheaper but capped plan? > > I’d imagine the customer service rep you spoke to was indeed correct and you’ll keep your plan. They sent me a postcard that said so and a CSR I contacted via their Facebook page confirmed it. He said my only option was to add unlimited data to the new plan, which would work out as $10 more than my current plan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-verizon-wireless-give-me-this-deal/706119.md?page=1)