Verizon Wireless unlimited data plans go away on July 7

Longtime Verizon smartphone users took comfort in the $30 monthly charge for unlimited data. All of that is set to end on July 7 with the introduction of tiered data packages.

In a statement obtained by droid-life.com, Verizon has overhauled its pricing scheme with three new data tiers - 2GB, 5GB, and 10GB - with monthly rates of $30, $50, and $80 respectively. These prices apply to both 3G and 4G phone owners.

There is a separate tiered pricing scheme for those who want tethering. These packages tack on an extra 2GB and $20 to each basic data package. The options are 4GB, 7GB, and 12GB with monthly rates of $50, $70, and $100 respectively.

The penalty for exceeding the data cap is $10 per 1 GB. It used to be $1.99 per Mbyte. Times have changed.

Earlier this year, Verizon made its $30 per month unlimited plan the default option for new smartphone users. It scrapped its $15 per month 150MB plan in favor of the unlimited option. The move came just days before Verizon introduced its iteration of the iPhone.

Yet, Verizon later announced in March that the unlimited data plan was not a long term strategy. Tiered data plans would be introduced in the middle of summer this year.

Last month, in a steady march towards the end of unlimited data, Verizon introduced their Usage Control data management tool to help subscribers determine just how much data they were actually using. The Usage Controls service, priced at $4.99 a month, allows users to control how data and minutes get used.

The new tiered plans should not affect current subscribers.

This article, written by Julius Motal, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.