Rumors suggest Verizon is set to launch data rollover, speed throttling targeting overages and more comprehensive North America roaming options
Rumors are running wild that Verizon Wireless is set to join some of its rivals in offering a data rollover feature and data overage protection in the form of speed throttling.
The rumor is hot-and-heavy on a Reddit thread, which claims to show an internal Verizon Wireless screen shot captured by DSL Reports indicating the plans could launch this Friday.
Specifically, the image shows a “Carryover Data” option that would allow customers on any size data bucket to keep unused data for one month; a “Safety Mode” that would curtail network speeds should customers exceed their data bucket allowance, which would be standard on XL (12 gigabyte) and XXL (18 GB) data plans, and a $5 upcharge for smaller data buckets; and the ability for customers on at least the XL data plans to access their service features when roaming in Canada and Mexico.
Verizon Wireless’ current policy is unused data allotments are lost at the end of each billing cycle, while customers that go over their data bucket are charged $15 per GB in overage.
The moves – if true – could be a competitive reaction by Verizon Wireless, which has seen its one-time postpaid dominance impacted by aggressive moves from rivals. Wells Fargo Securities last month lowered its second-quarter postpaid upgrade rate for the carrier from 6.5% to 5.5%, its third-quarter upgrade rate from 6.5% to 6%, and lowered its Q2 postpaid net addition estimate from 860,000 connections to 659,000 connections.
T-Mobile US was the first nationwide carrier to bring back the ability for consumers to keep some of their unused data allotments, first with the ability to keep all unused data for up to one year, which was then trimmed to a maximum of 20 GB of unused data.
AT&T Mobility last year relaunched its Rollover option, allowing customers to maintain their unused data allotment for up to one month. The rollover initiative has a history at the carrier as its former Cingular Wireless incarnation was one of the first to offer a rollover feature for its voice calling plans back in 2002.
More recently, Verizon Wireless offered a rollover of data access for its prepaid AllSet Plans.
Verizon Wireless last year rolled out a roaming feature allowing customers traveling to Canada and Mexico to receive 500 calling minutes, 500 sent text messages and unlimited received text messages, and 1 gigabyte of data for $25 per line. Rivals have since rolled out more aggressive options.
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