Last week, T-Mobile announced it’s new “Jump!” pricing plan. Under the service, customers would pay $10 per month for the privilege of being able to trade in their smartphone for an upgrade twice a year, with the fees for upgrading dropped to new-customer levels. It’s a deal that consumers might expect from the fourth-largest U.S. carrier that did away with contracts earlier this year and bills itself as the “uncarrier.”
Last week, though, AT&T surprised industry watchers with its new “AT&T Next” service. The pricing plan is similar to T-Mobile’s Jump! service, in that it allows customers to make monthly payments for the privilege of upgrading their device once every year. The offering shows that even the largest carriers in the U.S. are beginning to shift their pricing models to more closely match manufacturers’ yearly device launches.
Now, it appears that Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in the U.S., is also jumping on the frequent upgrade bandwagon. A leaked training slide obtained by Droid Life outlines a new “VZ Edge” plan similar to those announced by T-Mobile and AT&T. The plan would allow Verizon customers to pay off their devices a bit every month and then upgrade anytime after 50% of the device is paid off. In a section on how the plans will benefit customers, items listed include no upgrade fees and no service contracts.
The VZ Edge plans, according to the leaked document, are scheduled to launch on August 25. With the iPhone 5S rumored to be launching sometime in September, the landscape of mobile device pricing in the U.S. looks like it will shift dramatically this fall.
(via Droid Life)