New prepaid plans from Verizon on February 1

Verizon prepaid got with the times — somewhat — early last year when they announced a prepaid smartphone plan. Like most others it provided unlimited talk and text, but afforded users just 1GB of data for $80 per month, well above the market rate. They later doubled the data in a promotion that ends January 31. But the day after that they’ll introduce two new plans that will put them more in line with the competition. They’re still a bit more expensive, but these plans are much more palatable than the previous $80 plan. In fact, Verizon has essentially taken the $80 plan, with the 2GB promotional data, and made it their $70 monthly plan. To rephrase, that’s unlimited talk and text, plus 2GB of data, for $70 per month. There is also a lower tier which provides unlimited talk and text, plus 500MB of data, for $60 per month. Again, this isn’t going to compete toe-to-toe with Straight Talk. It doesn’t even match unlimited plans from big name competitors such as AT&T GoPhone. This plan will become available February 1. While $80 plan users are grandfathered in, none should take up Verizon on this offer. They can get the same features for $10 less with the new plans. Via Phone Arena.]]>