Verizon drops Droid Bionic to $99, grows LTE network
updated 02:25 pm EST, Wed February 15, 2012
Moto Droid Bionic gets lower storage and price
Verizon has seized on the strategy behind its Droid RAZR price cut and applied it to the Droid Bionic on Wednesday. Motorola's older 4G Android phone has had its price cut by at least $50 to $100 on a contract by sacrificing storage. While it still has 16GB built-in, the 16GB microSDHC card has been dropped both to lower the immediate price and let only those who need it pay for a card themselves.
The price drop makes it one of the less expensive 4G phones on the network and hints at the relatively slow uptake. Verizon originally released the Droid Bionic in September at $300, only to supplement it with the thinner, tougher Droid RAZR just two months later. Combined with the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus launches, the Droid Bionic was quickly overshadowed both for customers and Verizon's own attention.
Lining up with the cheaper Bionic is a minor expansion of Verizon's LTE network. It has planned a rollout in the midsized town of Cookeville, Tennessee. Three other cities were getting expanded coverage, including fellow Tennessee town Clarksville as well as Little Rock in Arkansas, Rapid City in South Dakota, and San Antonio in Texas.
The growth takes effect February 16. Combined, the expansion gives 4G coverage about 196 urban centers, or a theoretical 200 million people.
