Verizon forcing $30 unlimited data plan on new smartphone customers

Verizon Wireless will cease offering its monthly 150MB data plan, which costs $15, and by default will require all new smartphone users to adopt its existing $30 unlimited data plan.

During Verizon's fourth quarter earnings call on Tuesday morning, chief operating officer Lowell McAdam said the company was scrapping its $15/month 150 MB data plan this month.

A Verizon Wireless spokesman declined to offer any more details but confirmed Verizon would continue its $30 unlimited MB plan.

The announcement deals a direct blow to the original Apple iPhone carrier, AT&T, which had to scrap its unlimited data plan last summer. AT&T's metered data plans begin at $15 a month for 200MB. At the time, AT&T argued that 98 percent of its smartphone users consumed less than 2GB per month, and 65 percent consumed less than 200MB per month.

This demistifies somewhat the data plans available to incoming Apple iPhone users. The spokesman would not say whether or not Verizon would offer any other tiered data plans for new smartphone subscribers.

This morning before the call McAdam told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot. Not offering an unlimited plan would put up a barrier for customers who might otherwise switch from AT&T," he said. "The country's No. 2 carrier still has millions of subscribers grandfathered into unlimited plans they signed up for before AT&T switched to tiered pricing last summer."

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