Verizon Unlimited Data Need Not End For You

This week we're feeling the firestorm that's surrounded Verizon's double-announcement that they'd be effectively doing away with Unlimited Data plans by the end of this summer – but the whole truth is not that simple. Where many would read that headline and immediately assume Verizon was taking their precious away from them, there's no reason to fret if you're the sort of person that doesn't want (or need) to pick up a new smartphone every couple of years. Instead this new deal from Verizon allows you to stay on the phone you're on OR upgrade to an unsubsidized phone if you like, all the while letting you stick with your grandfathered plan – and it's not just 3G.

At the moment, you're not going to be able to walk into Verizon and start up a new Unlimited Data plan – that no longer exists for new customers. For those of you with Unlimited Data plans from the past, that is if you've been paying for Unlimited Data since it was still available for new purchase from Verizon, you'll still be good to go through the future. If you do the following though, you'll need to let go of your ever-loving Unlimited Data forevermore:

• If you want a new device at a subsidized price (that is, with a new 2-year contract), you will indeed need to drop your Unlimited Data.

If on the other hand you do not mind paying "full price," that is the unsubsidized price for any smartphone on Verizon, you can keep your Unlimited Data, and that DOES include LTE. The price of an unsubsidized smartphone as opposed to a subsidized phone price can be relatively vast, so you might want to weigh your options before diving head-first into the future here.

For those of you looking to start up with limited data, as it were, you've got 2GB for $30, 5GB for $50, and 10GB for $80 USD on the market right now, and that's per month. Verizon has not yet announced their prices for shared data plans that will be popping up later this year.