Verizon’s unlimited data plan has barely been around for six months, but we’re already on the third (and most expensive) version. It started well: $80 for virtually unlimited data, with the only restrictions being a 10GB cap on mobile hotspot, and a “soft cap” of 22GB a month, after which users would be potentially slowed down.
But in August, Verizon split its offering in two: a $75-per-month plan that had video throttled to standard definition and lower-priority data, and an $85-a-month plan that throttled video to 720p. To be clear, that makes the $85-a-month Beyond Unlimited plan more expensive than Verizon’s original plan, and with worse-quality video.
As of November 3rd, however, there’s a new option. For an additional $10 a month, you can now remove all video throttling restrictions. For those keeping score at home, that means that Verizon’s basically restored the same level of service as its original $80-a-month plan, only it now costs $95 per month.
Verizon didn’t announce the move with a typical press release, and CNET picked the news up this morning. That’s probably for the best, as otherwise, Verizon would be left making difficult justifications for why it’s introduced the $10-a-month video add-on. Back in August when it started throttling video, it said that there’s no real difference in quality between 720p or anything higher — so why would it be offering higher-quality video two months later?
Verizon didn’t immediately return a request for comment from BGR.
This feels like the kind of feature-creep plan changing that telecoms companies have been employing recently. It’s become rampant in the home broadband industry: telecoms providers are introducing caps to a region, and then offering “truly unlimited plans” — the same thing customers have been on for years — for $50 a month more.
