Verizon customers could see some changes with their next bill. Starting Thursday, the company will roll out new smartphone data plans that, while packing in more data allotments, also come with higher price tags.
So, what do the changes entail? Customers who want to keep their existing plans -- with the corresponding prices -- don't have to make a change. That being said, Verizon has been touting new, appealing features like carrying over unused data from the preceding month that can only be accessed by agreeing to one of the new plans.
For customers looking to save money, they might not be happy to hear that prices at each plan tier are increasing by about $5 to $10 per month. The cheapest is listed at $35 and gives smartphone users 2GB of data. That's twice the data of the previous entry-level plan, for an extra $5 a month.
On the other end of the spectrum, the largest plan now goes for $110 each month (up from $100) and offers 24GB of cellphone data (up from 18GB).
Regardless of level, all plans offer unlimited talk and text. Users will be charged a $20 "access fee" for each additional line.
Previously, customers whose data usage fell between existing plan sizes needed to move up to a higher level. This time around, a less expensive tier might be enough to satisfy your data consumption.
Also new for Verizon is something called Safety Mode, which gives customers the option to shift to slower data speeds as opposed to paying overages once they hit their plans' limit.
Safety Mode is free for folks with the two most expensive plans, or an extra $5 a month if you want to add it on to a lower-level plan. If you don't opt for Safety Mode and go over your limit, Verizon charges a $15 overage fee for every extra GB of data used per month.
The company also rolled out a new My Verizon app, which allows users to make changes to their plans any time they like.