Tech test: Are you better off keeping Verizon contract plan?

Verizon also recently simplified its rates, removing two-year contracts and phone subsidies in the process.

Verizon has a no-contract plan called Edge. Will Unlimited subscribers get the option to upgrade to new phones with a discount?

Month-to-month plans range from $30 to $80 a month depending on how much data allowance you need, but you will have to pay the full-price of a new phone. You could pay about $650 dollars up front or just over $27 a month for two years. However, switching over to the new plans is permanent – users can not go back to their old plans should they decide to drop out of the new one. With Thursday’s changes now in play, should you rush to get a discounted phone, or wait for the new plans?

The less data you use, the less you’ll save. Because the price goes down at 3 gigabyte, the new plans might seem better. Under the brand new plans there are not any household plans or single line choices.

The subject was brought up because Verizon has insisted since announcing the new S-M-L-XL plans that if customers wanted to keep their current plans and still upgrade, they could without moving to the new plan. (You would have been billed $70 under the old plan.) But taking into consideration the lack of an activation fee and down payment, the 1 GB plan will end up saving you $72 over the course of two years ($1848 vs. $1920). Prices under the new plans will better reflect actual costs, but that also means less service fees to reimburse. So you’re still stuck with Verizon. And you’ll definitely be saving something – potentially a lot, if you play your cards right. Many rivals will pay any penalties anyway if you have to break your contract to switch.