Summary
- Verizon’s Unlimited Ultimate plan will soon include at least 200GB of premium hotspot data per month.
- International calling from the US to other countries is also rumored to be joining the existing international texting.
- Some users have also started receiving an international mobile data increase to 15GB.
Everybody knows unlimited phone plans are a lie. We’ve seen so many cases of “unlimited” actually meaning “capped and throttled” that most of us have even stopped complaining about it. So you might not be surprised to learn that Verizon’s Unlimited Ultimate plan does ultimately limit monthly data allowances in some situations.
While your on-device mobile data is truly uncapped and always unthrottled under Verizon’s best plan, it does fall under some restrictions. As prominent YouTuber Sneed Mobile Tech just learned from an apparently reliable source, though, Verizon will soon lift or extend the Unlimited Ultimate plan’s mobile hotspot data cap, in addition to adding unlimited calling. That comes alongside reports of additional perks for Verizon myPlan subscribers (via Droid-Life).
When unlimited actually means unlimited
And when there are restrictions
To Verizon’s credit, Unlimited Ultimate mobile data does not have a data cap, and at no point will it be throttled for overuse. Users periodically report on social media that, after using roughly 1TB or more for multiple months straight, they get a letter warning of potential plan cancelation if they don’t rein in their data consumption. It’s possible to run through a terabyte of data on a smartphone in a month, but it’s also pretty difficult.
Verizon does impose limits on specific data uses other than simply surfing the web and streaming videos on your smartphone. At the moment, its $100/month plan offers 60GB of unthrottled mobile hotspot data, and significantly reduces speeds past that mark.
The leak comes in the form of an in-house email announcing employee training on the new plan features. The email cites “unlimited hotspot” data as one of said features. Sneed Mobile Tech points out that rumors indicate this particular “unlimited” figure might actually top out at 200GB per month. That’s still a ton of data, and you’ll be hard-pressed to go that high unless you routinely engage in high-bandwidth activity like working with large video files.
The other addition might not affect as many users, but it’s more significant in a way. The Unlimited Ultimate plan currently includes international texting from the US to other countries. With the leaked changes, it will also include international calling from the US to other countries. That’s a significant upgrade, as normally you’d need to add to your Verizon package to call from the US to countries other than Canada and Mexico.
But wait, there’s more!
Although it’s not yet 100% confirmed
Source: Verizon
Satellite texting could save a life in remote locations.
On top of those user-friendly changes, multiple social media users have reported receiving text messages from Verizon indicating an international mobile data allowance of 15GB. Until recently, that figure was 10GB across the board, leading many to assume a 5GB international data increase could also be in the cards.
This is all in conjunction with an almost too-good-to-be-true improvement from earlier this month, when Verizon announced a three-year price lock on all plans. In other words, you choose a plan, and receive the confidence that your base cost won’t increase. It’s also now offering free perks, including free satellite texting on qualifying devices, five of the most popular streaming services for a total of $20/month, and “a free phone when they trade in any phone, any condition, from Apple, Google or Samsung.”
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Don’t get too excited, though. As generous as all that sounds, Verizon also notes, “Plan perks, taxes, fees, and surcharges are subject to change.” So while the price may be locked, the new perks might not be. And, theoretically, Verizon could pull what T-Mobile loves to do and tack on the costs of doing business labeled as vague “regulatory fees” without technically increasing your actual subscription price.
Hopefully, Verizon sees the backlash other providers get from those tactics, and offers the new perks and price locks in good faith. Because — in a somewhat rare twist — all these options, and the flexibility to move to new plans with new three-year price locks, are available to all subscribers, existing and new. No more being treated like a second-class citizen simply because you’ve already been with the company for a year. And that’s refreshing.
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