Verizon’s new upgrade conditions for the its Edge plan may be little more than a marketing trick meant to convince subscribers to stay with the carrier amid increased competition elsewhere. The carrier has dropped the upgrade time from six months to 30 days for its Edge plan, allowing users to upgrade to a new smartphone in just one month, if they so desire. The promotion is limited though, as CNET has learned. “[…] this is currently a promotion but we have not set an end date. It is in response to our customer’s requests regarding this popular payment and upgrade plan,” a spokesman told the site. “While it is important to understand what our competitors are doing, Verizon makes decisions based on what’s best for both our customers and business.”
However, the deal sounds better on paper than it really is, as the Edge upgrade conditions have not changed. Verizon will still require users to pay at least 50% of the phone’s value before upgrading to a new device, which means subscribers will have to pay that amount within 30 days to actually be able to take advantage of the new quick upgrade offer. Just as before, the old handset will have to be returned to upgrade to a new model – for a limited time though, Verizon will throw in a gift card of at least $100 when trading-in a device under the Edge plan.
Verizon’s move is only the latest response in the recent carrier wars started by T-Mobile’s aggressive “Uncarrier” campaign that’s disrupting the mobile landscape in the U.S. AT&T and Sprint have also responded with new initiatives of their own — AT&T is targeting T-Mobile subscribers by paying them to switch and Sprint launched new “Framily” plans for families and friends.
