Verizon adds unlimited smartphone plan
updated 10:45 am EDT, Mon April 14, 2008
Verizon UL Smartphone Plan
Stepping up the already increased competition between US carriers, Verizon today became one of the first providers in the country after AT&T to offer an explicitly unlimited plan for smartphones. The simply-titled Wireless E-mail and Web for Smartphone plan lets users browse and check e-mail without restriction on devices that would normally be subject to data caps. The feature lets even home users use a smartphone as a hub for most of their Internet access, Verizon says.
The $30 monthly plan includes access to as many as ten personal accounts from larger services (including Windows Live and Yahoo) and doesn't allow tethering for using phones as cellular modems. Service is initially limited to three Windows Mobile phones that include the Motorola Q9m as well as the SMT5800 and the XV6800. More devices will be available under the plan in the future, according to Verizon.
The Wireless E-mail and Web service follows the company's unlimited plans for more limited devices and is potentially a response to similar plans from AT&T, which have included both BlackBerry and Windows Mobile smartphones. The iPhone has so far sat in an unusual category by using a limited phone's $20 data plan but offering some smartphone-level features.
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Got my hopes up
when you said that it could be used as a hub "for most of their Internet access," which I initially took to mean tethering. Oh well, I almost ran out the door to a Verizon shop.