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Verizon Automatically Updating Customers To New Unlimited Plans

Christian Leave a comment

Verizon is automatically switching customers from its old unlimited plans (Start Unlimited, Play More Unlimited, Get More Unlimited, and Do More Unlimited) to the corresponding plans in the company’s revamped plan lineup. I believe the new plans are the same or better than the old plans in all respects.

Here’s a screenshot from an email Verizon sent me yesterday (I’m currently on the Get More Unlimited plan):
Screenshot from an email sent by Verizon

That first bullet point is interesting. Here’s the clarification Verizon includes in the fine print:

*Comparison based on 5G Ultra Wideband speeds to median Verizon 4G LTE speeds.

Early this week, Verizon launched 5G service in some of its recently acquired C-Band spectrum. I expect Verizon got the 10x figure by comparing typical 4G LTE speeds to C-Band 5G speeds. Verizon was already offering an even faster service, millimeter wave 5G, with some of its old plans. The way I see it, that first bullet point is a tacit admission that Verizon does not cover the overwhelming majority of its subscribers with millimeter wave 5G.

Verizon store

Verizon’s Updates: New Plans & C Band

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Verizon officially launched the new plans I discussed on Monday. For the most part, the plans are structured as expected. However, the Get More and Do More plans will continue to include a 50% discount on plans for connected devices (e.g., watches, hotspots, tablets).

C Band Launch

Yesterday, Verizon planned to launch service using its recently acquired C-band spectrum. However, Verizon is now delaying for two weeks due to complaints from the Federal Aviation Administration. The complaints stem from the possibility that cellular service in the C band could interfere with airplanes’ radio altimeters.

The dispute has been covered in other places (e.g., The NYT), so I won’t rehash the story myself. I’m not an RF engineer, and I know nothing about radio altimeters. Perhaps that should convince me to keep my mouth shut. But it’s hard for me to watch the ongoing disagreements without suspecting the aviation industry is making arguments in extremely bad faith.

A pipe leaking

Verizon’s New Plans Leak Early

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Verizon has been making a big fuss about an announcement scheduled for 1pm ET tomorrow. Among other things, Verizon is expected to announce a revamp to some of its most popular plans.

Right now, Verizon has four postpaid, unlimited plans for the mass market:

  • Start Unlimited
  • Play More Unlimited
  • Do More Unlimited
  • Get More Unlimited

An authentic-looking picture appeared on Reddit and included details about the revamped plans. While I can’t be certain, it looks like the revamped plans will keep their old prices, have “5G” added to their names, and have “unlimited” dropped from their names. That’ll leave us with:

  • 5G Start
  • 5G Play More
  • 5G Do More
  • 5G Get More

For the most part, the changes to the plans look minor. As I see it, here are the most noteworthy changes:

  • Hotspot data increases from 15GB to 25GB on the Play More & Do More plans
  • Hotspot data on the Get More plan increases from 30GB to 50GB
  • (Possibly) Get More & Do More plans lose a discount on connected device plans
  • Get More & Do More subscribers get one free TravelPass each month1
  • Added 50% discount on Verizon Home Internet with all plans expect 5G Start
  • Premium data with the Get More plan turns unlimited (currently 50GB)

Verizon seems to be following T-Mobile’s lead with that last change. In my view, it’s a bad development for most Verizon subscribers. Here’s what I wrote when T-Mobile dropped premium data restrictions on its top-tier plan (Magenta MAX):2

The utility of Premium Data hinges on how much Premium Data is being used by other network users. By including unlimited Premium Data with the Magenta MAX plan, T-Mobile is slightly degrading service quality for tens of millions of users in order to improve service for a tiny fraction of the company’s heaviest data users.

The same can be said for Verizon and the 5G Get More plan.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with managing networks via things like premium data allotments. Consumers need transparency about network congestion. Dropping premium data limits just passes the buck.

Again, everything is uncertain at this point. I plan to write another post after tomorrow’s announcement.

Hat tip to Josh of PA TECH who drew my attention to the Reddit post.

Document getting an approval stamp

Verizon’s Acquisition Of TracFone Gets FCC Approval

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Update: The acquisition is officially complete.

In September of 2020, Verizon announced plans to acquire TracFone and its roughly 20 million subscribers. A while back, the deal was cleared by the FTC and the DOJ declined to hold back the process. The acquisition got its final green lights from the California Public Utilities Commission last Thursday and the FCC yesterday.

I expect the deal to close shortly with Verizon meeting its original goal of closing the deal in the second half of 2021. As expected, the FCC’s approval is conditional on Verizon adhering to some terms. The terms center around consumer protections. Most of the protections relate to the government’s Lifeline program which offers subsidies on phone service for low-income consumers.

Terms of Consumer Protections

Here’s my understanding of the most important and/or interesting terms based on a reading of the FCC’s press release and a skim of the 70-page Memorandum Opinion and Order:

  • For at least seven years, Verizon must continue to offer TracFone’s Lifeline services in the areas they’re currently offered.
  • For at least three years, Verizon must continue to offer existing Lifeline plans that provide service at no cost to consumers.
  • Verizon must maintain some of TracFone’s existing roaming agreements to serve customers in some regions where Verizon does not offer coverage (I think this requirement lasts 3 years).
  • Verizon must offer free devices and/or SIM cards to Lifeline subscribers that are required to transition to Verizon’s network.
  • Verizon must extend its usual (60 day) unlocking policy to acquired customers.
  • For three years, Verizon must extend agreements with MVNOs using its network without altering the terms of the agreements.

As a whole, the terms are less burdensome on Verizon than I’d expected. I previously wondered if Verizon would be required to sell competitors the almost ten million TracFone subscribers who are not currently on Verizon’s network. It looks like no one will force Verizon to do so, and I expect Verizon will transition most of these users to its network.

What Does This Mean For MVNOs?

With Verizon acquiring all of TracFone’s brands and customers, the size of the MVNO market in the U.S. will contract significantly. Further, Verizon may see reduced economic incentives to allow MVNOs to use its network. The FCC acknowledged this concern:1

Verizon, as a result of the transaction, may have an increased incentive to raise the costs of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that compete directly against TracFone for Lifeline and other low-cost prepaid customers and for which Verizon is their wholesale provider…

Commenters argue that, because post-transaction, all significant MVNOs would be vertically integrated with the nationwide facilities-based providers, the vertically integrated MVNOs could coordinate to exclude or otherwise harm competing, standalone MVNOs or adopt parallel strategies to discourage postpaid customers from migrating to lower-cost prepaid plans. Second, commenters claim that coordination would be more likely because the transaction would remove an independently-competing maverick MVNO from the market.

However, it seems the FCC doesn’t take the concern too seriously:

We find that this transaction is unlikely to significantly increase the risk of coordinated effects. Post-transaction, there will remain, in addition to the prepaid brands offered by the three nationwide MNOs, prepaid brands offered by regional MNOs and by numerous independent MVNOs, including Boost and the other MVNOs served by Verizon. These MVNOs will continue to have the incentive and ability to compete for prepaid customers, including cost-conscious customers, which will likely continue to constrain opportunities for coordination on prepaid plans by the three nationwide MNOs. Further, at the wholesale level, contracts between MNOs and MVNOs are complex and specific to the needs of the MVNO that is party to the negotiation, generally last for a period of years, and generally are subject to strict non-disclosure agreements. These features of the wholesale contracts make it difficult for MNOs to coordinate on the terms of wholesale contracts to harm rival stand-alone MVNOs, and the transaction does not affect these features of wholesale contracts except between Verizon and TracFone. Moreover, Verizon’s commitment, which we accept as a condition to our approval, to extend its existing agreements with certain MVNOs for at least three years limits its ability to coordinate to raise wholesale prices.

Here’s what Verizon is ultimately committed to:

Verizon has committed to provide those MVNOs who have current contracts with Verizon an option to extend their existing MVNO wholesale agreements, on the same terms and conditions, continuing on a month-to-month basis until three years after the transaction closes. This option does not apply to MVNOs whose agreements expire beyond three years after the transaction closes.

Reflections

My gut feeling is still that a world where this acquisition goes through will be a world with less competition and higher prices than we’d see in a world without the acquisition. However, I feel less strongly about that than I did a year ago.

Megaphone cartoon

MobileX Announces Partnership With Verizon

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For over a year, Peter Adderton, the founder of Boost Mobile, has been dropping hints about MobileX, a new cellular carrier he’s starting. Adderton has suggested MobileX will take a novel and consumer-friendly approach, but details about MobileX’s plans have been sparse until today.

This morning, Mobile X Global announced that its U.S. brand, MobileX, is partnering with Verizon. The partnership will allow MobileX to take advantage of Verizon’s Network as a Service platform. I don’t know much about the ins and outs of Verizon’s platform, but it will allow MobileX to offer service over Verizon’s network and potentially deliver features that conventional MVNOs cannot.

MobileX’s Ambitions

According to today’s press release, MobileX is aiming to launch in the U.S. in early 2022. The release also noted Mobile X Global’s goal of eventually offering a seamless user experience across countries:

[The Mobile X Global platform] will allow customers to seamlessly switch across global networks, with one number and one service that extends beyond borders.

Adderton was quoted stressing the unique and highly customizable nature of the MobileX platform:

Mobile X Global will deliver an incredibly intuitive, easy-to-use and real-time proprietary platform that truly puts the power in the hands of the consumer. Now they can choose what they want, when they want, and only pay for what they need. The innovations in our cloud-based platform enable unprecedented levels of customization and flexibility.

I’m not sure what MobileX’s offerings will look like. Last year, I shared a bit of speculation, largely based on mockup images. I’m hoping we’ll see MobileX bring unique approaches to pricing, network switching, and user control of service quality. I suspect more details will come to light over the next few months.

Person touching a light switch

Twigby Moving To Verizon’s Network

Christian 5 Comments

Today, the MVNO Twigby officially announced that it’ll switch from Sprint’s network to Verizon’s network.1 MVNOs like Twigby are usually prohibited from advertising the names of their host networks, so it’s unsurprising that “Verizon” doesn’t explicitly appear in Twigby’s announcement. However, there are plenty of indicators. Twigby’s announcement includes a red coverage map and describes the new network as the “nation’s largest and most reliable”.

Previously, Twigby allowed voice and text roaming on Verizon’s network for customers outside of the range of Sprint’s network. With the latest change, Twigby will drop Sprint entirely and move to offering voice, text, and data over Verizon’s network. New customers will access Verizon’s network automatically. Existing Twigby customers can continue to use Sprint’s network until at least the end of the year. Customers that want to switch to Verizon sooner can opt to do so.

Overall, I think this change is great for Twigby. Verizon offers far better coverage than Sprint, and Twigby appears to be keeping its prices unchanged for the moment. Some of Twigby’s plans rates are well-priced for Verizon’s network:

Twigby plan examples

US Mobile, another small MVNO offering service over Verizon’s network, still has better prices, but Twigby is offering real competition.

Supposedly, Twigby’s Verizon service includes 5G access for subscribers with compatible phones. I wonder whether iPhone 12 users will actually get 5G service. The MVNO Tello recently advertised 5G service while neglecting to mention that 5G iPhones were not supported.

5G Phone Idea

20% Of Verizon Customers Have 5G Devices

Christian 1 Comment

Today, Verizon shared a press release highlighting strong revenue numbers and a significant number of added lines in the second quarter of 2021. For me, the most interesting part of the press release was this line:

Consumer ended second-quarter 2021 with approximately 20 percent of wireless phone customers having 5G-capable devices.
I’d been wondering how much penetration 5G had in the U.S. market. Verizon is something of a premium carrier, so it probably has a higher proportion of customers on 5G-capable phones than the wider market. Based on Verizon’s statement, I’d guess at least 10% of U.S. consumers, probably closer to 15%, are now using 5G-capable phones.

radio wave abstract

Verizon’s C-Band Timeline

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Earlier this week, Verizon shared a press release detailing the company’s plans for deploying C-band equipment. As the equipment is deployed, Verizon will start making use of a huge swath of C-band spectrum it recently spent over $45 billion acquiring.

Some of the spectrum still needs to be cleared by previous holders. Further, it will take Verizon some time to roll out its new equipment. Here’s what Verizon’s deployment targets look like right now:

  • March 2022: 100 million people covered
  • 2023: More than 175 million covered
  • 2024+: Over 250 million covered

That’s based on this bit from Verizon’s press release:

Although the initial spectrum won’t be cleared until the end of this year, Verizon and its vendor partners have already begun the work to ensure the super-fast 5G Ultra Wideband service using C-band is deployed to 100 million customers by March 2022…In the first quarter of 2022, Verizon expects to put into service the new 5G C-band spectrum in the initial 46 markets and to provide 5G Ultra Wideband service to 100 million people. Over 2022 and 2023, coverage is expected to increase to more than 175 million people and by 2024 and beyond, when the remaining C-band spectrum is cleared, more than 250 million people are expected to have access to Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service on C-band spectrum.
Clock and hourglass

Verizon Sets New Deadline For 3G Retirement

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Major networks are gradually phasing out 3G technology. Today, Verizon announced a new deadline for 3G retirement: December 31, 2022.1

Verizon has set and pushed back deadlines a few times:

Since 2016, we have stated publicly that we are actively decommissioning our 3G CDMA network. Initially, we announced we would close down our 3G network in 2019. However, we extended our shut off date – first to the end of 2020 and now to the end of 2022 – in order to care for our customers and give them every effort to minimize disruptions to their service as they move to newer and more advanced technologies.

I wonder if Verizon always knew it would push back the early deadlines. Even if the early deadlines were artificial, they may have helped transition subscribers off of 3G-only devices:

We worked for the past several years to help those who still have 3G devices transfer to devices capable of accessing the 4G LTE or 5G networks and continue to actively work with remaining 3G customers to migrate them to new devices and technology. As a result of those efforts, we can now report that more than 99% of our customers are using the enhanced features of 4G LTE or 5G, with less than 1% still accessing the 3G network.

In today’s announcement, Verizon stated that it would not push back the retirement deadline again. I’m unsure whether Verizon will keep a tiny portion of its 3G network active after 2022 to support business customers using legacy technology.

Crystal ball

Prediction: Verizon Will Offer C-Band Service To Everyone

Christian Leave a comment

Verizon won a bunch of spectrum in the recent C-Band Auction. That spectrum will be deployed over the next few years and will soon form a core part of Verizon’s network.

Eli Blumenthal, a reporter for CNET, recently shared this tweet:

I’m betting Verizon won’t stick to this policy over the long term. The new C-band spectrum is going to be extremely useful for Verizon when managing performance on its capacity-constrained network. If Verizon artificially limits C-band access to a minority of its customers, the company won’t be able to use the spectrum as efficiently as possible.

While I expect limiting C-band access will eventually become costly for Verizon, it’s not too costly yet. There are two main reasons:

  1. C-band spectrum will take a while to deploy (much of the spectrum won’t even be available to Verizon until 2023).
  2. At the moment, C-band is only supported by a handful of top-of-the-line phones. People with new, fancy phones almost certainly subscribe to Verizon’s premium plans at a disproportionate rate.

The situation will change as more C-band spectrum is deployed and C-band compatibility becomes a standard feature on nearly all phones. As that happens, I expect Verizon will open up C-band access to almost all of its direct subscribers as well as subscribers with Verizon’s flanker brands and Verizon-powered MVNOs.