Verizon Wireless today announced the addition of Share Everything plans. They’re essentially family plans, allowing you, mom, dad, and big or little brother or sister to share from a pool of unlimited voice minutes and text messages, plus a specified amount of data. The service also offers a free mobile HotSpot service to any device on the plan. Share Everything plans support up to ten phones.
This is good news for Verizon, who has been struggling to find common ground with customers on data pricing.
“Customers asked, and today Verizon Wireless delivered an industry first,” said Tami Erwin, VP and CMO for Verizon Wireless. “Share Everything Plans are the new standard for wireless service. They are simple; customers no longer have to think about their voice and message plans, because both are unlimited.”
The idea is that you pay an original fee for each device coming on the plan — for smartphones that’s $40. Voice and text are unlimited, so no worries there, and the smallest amount of data (1GB) starts at $50. Data prices go up $10 per each tier of data, which includes 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 6GB, 8GB, and 10GB ($100).
They feel a bit expensive, but the truth is these plans work out rather well with completely unlimited voice and texts for what will likely be lots of teenagers. Any parent knows this can be a life saver. But Verizon is smart — if you throw your wife, a kid, and your tablet onto this plan, you’ll pay $40 for each smartphone ($120), another $10 for your tablet ($130), and you’d likely need at least 6GB of data ($210).
The bill goes up quickly, but that’s sometimes the price you pay for unlimited phone usage, big buckets of data and a free mobile Hotspot feature. The plans are available June 28, and you can feel free to learn more here.