[2024]Digital Global Overview Report 2024 Meltwater.pdf
At&t vs. verizon
1. AT&T vs. Verizon
Now that Verizon has confirmed its data plan price for the iPhone,
U.S. customers can compare the ongoing costs of owning an Apple
smartphone.
Verizon has gotten all the ink lately, especially about the $29.99-a-
month unlimited data plan.
But is that the deal-maker?
We've collected plan prices and run a couple of scenarios through the
Computerworld calculator to help you decide before Feb. 10, when
Verizon starts selling the iPhone 4.
Naturally, your mileage may vary.
I want the bottom line. What are the numbers? Here they are, in an
easily digestible table. The prices are for individual plans; both
AT&T and Verizon also offer family plans.
How the AT&T and Verizon iPhone plans stack up.
Copyright by summy
2. AT&T vs. Verizon
An apples-to-apples comparison is impossible because AT&T
dumped its unlimited data plan last year. What do I do? Our best
advice is to estimate your data usage or craft a couple of scenarios,
then run the numbers.
To check smartphone data usage, you can access your account
online, or text *DATA# (AT&T) or #DATA (Verizon).
Both services -- AT&T's is here, and Verizon's here -- also offer a
data calculator that can give you a ballpark idea of consumption
based on your input.
I'm a data miser. What's the best deal? Depends. Shocker, right?
A side-by-side match-up that includes, for example, the least
expensive voice plan, the least expensive texting plan and no
tethering, gives AT&T a $9.99 edge with the 200MB-per-month data
plan. Bump it up to the 2GB data plan, however, and it's a wash.
I'm no data hog, but I text and talk like a teenager. What's my best
move? The comparison is straightforward, since both carriers offer
an $89.99 unlimited talk and texting package. So the only difference
Copyright by summy
3. AT&T vs. Verizon
is the minimum data plan price, which gives AT&T an edge.
AT&T: $104.99
Verizon: $119.98
Advantage: AT&T, by $14.99
I miss unlimited data on my iPhone and am thinking of switching to
Verizon. But I also figure I'll burn 5GB a month total, 3GB of that on
laptop tethering. How much would that cost me? Assuming, for the
sake of argument, that you also sign up for unlimited voice and
texting -- the $89.99 package deal again -- the costs, including
tethering and a total data consumption of 5GB monthly, would be:
AT&T: $164.99
Verizon: $159.98
Advantage: Verizon, by $4.99
If you only used a total of 3GB of data month -- 2GB on the iPhone,
another 1GB while tethered -- the numbers look like this:
AT&T: $144.99
Verizon: $139.98
Advantage: Verizon, by $4.99
Copyright by summy
4. AT&T vs. Verizon
I hear that the Verizon unlimited data deal will be a limited-time
offer. What happens when they change to tiered pricing? Verizon's
not saying how it will price granular data plans in the future,
although it's committed to making that move.
If you sign up for the unlimited plan, however, you lock in at the
$29.99 price for unlimited data until you purchase another phone
from the carrier.
That's different from AT&T, which last year let iPhone customers
already on the now-defunct unlimited data plan keep that rate as
long as they stuck with the carrier. In other words, you can buy a
new iPhone, say, this summer, and retain the unlimited deal if you
still have that on your bill.
Copyright by summy