I think I may have figured out a way to get the best of both worlds.
Currently, I have a data and voice with Verizon Wireless. If I removed the voice service from my plan but kept the data plan, I can then get an iPhone. Work with me on this...
My voice and data plan with Verizon cost me about $120+ per month. The data plan is $60 from Verizon. If I just use the data plan, buy myself a Verizon Wireless V740 ExpressCard for my laptop and drop the voice plan. That will save me about $60 per month. Now, I can add iPhone/AT&T's cheapest plan of 450 minutes - which is plenty for me and I am back at $120 per month.
The major draw back is that my cell phone number would change. Because I would have to keep my current plan, i.e. my current number, with Verizon not to be charged the early termination fee. But then again, it doesn't bother me if I have to get a new number. So people who haven't called me in a while, they won't know how to reach me. Not a big deal, seriously.
Thoughts?
Comments
I love the thought of that. I have Verizon right now and it's fairly cheap, but on TWIT the other day they talked about how you could get the Verizon Data (EVDO or some such nonsense) and use that as a wireless network on your laptop. Then the iPhone would grab the signal and you'd be cruising at more than 1MBPS.
I'm in favor of the move. Let me know how it goes. Either leave a comment on my blog - Bowl of Cheese - or any of my other sites. You can find them all at http://www.jeffcutler.com
Thanks,
Jeff
Posted by: Jeff | July 11, 2007 11:48 AM
How more than 1MBPS?
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | July 11, 2007 12:12 PM
I thought of another drawback. You would have to actually get the iPhone.
I just heard that the brilliant engineers at Apple actually soldered in the battery to the phone. If you ever need to replace it or take it out, they charge $79. PLUS, you would then be charged an additional fee to rent a phone while they perform surgery on your phone.
Posted by: A.J. Schreiber | July 11, 2007 1:03 PM
AJ,
I have never had an additional battery. Typically, I am always plugged in. Plugged in at office, home and car. Plus I have travel chargers.
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | July 11, 2007 1:06 PM
I am not a fan of VZW, so I would drop them in a heartbeat no matter what you do. :)
I would suggest getting a new phone line and plan thru AT&T (um, at&t) for the iPhone. You may not want to use it as your primary phone right away. At a later point you may want to move your number and you still can. You can also have your phone calls forwarded to the iPhone.
This is the main reason why I did not consider buying the iPhone, as it is locked to at&t. I made a personal (business) rule and only buy unlocked phones, and my service is with T-Mobile who can accommodate them well. I own a Treo 680 and it is a joy to have it unlocked. When I go to Europe, I can use the phone as-is with T-Mobile's service or get a calling card and SIM and make local calls, all with the same phone content.
mp/m
Posted by: Mike Maddaloni | July 11, 2007 1:19 PM
I guess my question would be... how long do you have left on your Verizon plan? If it's ~5-6 months, why not wait until the next version pops out for the end of the year? Who knows, maybe by then Verizon will have doffed their cap, said sorry, and done a deal to get the iPhone on their network.
Posted by: Simon Heseltine | July 11, 2007 1:44 PM
how much faster than 1mb/s can EVDO be? check out this google mashup showing hundreds of actual speedtests by members of http://www.EVDOforums.com (link below shows the fastest downloads)
http://EVDOmaps.com/Fastest+Downloads
oh, and btw, http://3gstore.com sells the V740 for less than the verizon store, and is staffed by Mac+EVDO Experts who actually use Macs and EVDO! ;-)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
the EVDO Experts are at http://www.EVDOinfo.com
Posted by: EVDOinfo | July 11, 2007 1:57 PM
OK...
So I called Verizon again based on my brother-in-law's suggestion.
My contract ends in 4/2009. So waiting is not an option. They basically will let me out of my contract, since I will continue the data plan and keep my wife with them.
So, tonight, I go to the Apple store.
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | July 11, 2007 2:32 PM
Barry, I say get the iPhone! For you it would be perfect. Let us know how it goes.
Posted by: Ben Pfeiffer | July 11, 2007 4:20 PM
Damn!Your brother-in-law is a smart guy!
Posted by: A.J. Schreiber | July 11, 2007 5:21 PM
does anyone one if verizon will come out with the iphone.....if you do know please email me back
xbballxcjrx@yahoo.com
Posted by: chris | July 19, 2007 4:44 PM
From what I heard all over the place on the net is that At&t has anywhere from a 2 year to a 5 year exclusive agreement with apple on the iphone. So it does not look like it will be coming anytime soon to verizon.
Posted by: Matt | July 19, 2007 7:25 PM
verizon will never have iphone they will have prada phone by lg.
Posted by: youknow | September 28, 2007 4:47 AM
i my friend has an iphone with verizon so i kno it is possible for it to work but i dont kno how she did it
Posted by: Abe | November 11, 2007 4:17 AM
Can you please email me and explain to me how this works and what I should tell Verizon?? So your number changed FROM verizon to a at&t number? or you STILL have your verizon number and at&t just added their voice package onto your verizon number? is that right??
Posted by: Michelle | December 27, 2007 3:23 PM
I am now on AT&T.
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | December 27, 2007 3:24 PM
please tell me how to get my iphone to work on verizon
Posted by: karen | January 15, 2008 7:45 PM
I would also like to know how to make the iphone work on verizon. I've heard it is doable, but have not gotten the specifics on how.
Posted by: tyler Humphries | January 17, 2008 12:47 AM
I heard from Verizon that as of August 08 you
will be able to use any phone with them. I asked the sales rep about the I-Phone, he told me that I could activate it with Verizon after I purchased it from Apple. It makes sense, but I haven't been able to confirm the change. If it turns out to be true, AT&T will be totally screwed under contract with Apple having to give them a cut of the service plans for the next few years.
Posted by: Rocco | March 24, 2008 4:03 PM
Umm, no. iPhone will not work on Verizon. You were given really bad information. Verizon (CDMA) and AT&T (GSM) use totally different network technologies and they're completely incompatible with each other. Buy an iPhone and if you can manage to get it unlocked, you're stuck with another GSM provider like T-Mobile (not Sprint, they are also CDMA).
Posted by: JoeSchmoe | April 8, 2008 1:14 PM
Any thought? Please help! (No Verizon haters please, just facts. Thanks, Kim)
Has anyone heard any new news on Verizon vs. the iphone and if it will be compatible with Verizon soon. My contract with Verizon is up Nov 19, 2008 and I'm trying to decide if I should stay with Verizon. I really do like them or go to AT&T for the new iphone.
(NOTE: I might be able to wait until Nov, but my phone is on the edge. It might roll over and die at any moment)
I've heard that a lot of people have been returning them due to technical problems and if I do go with AT&T I should go with the old iphone.
My main uses would be:* voice (very important as we do not have a house phone – to many sales calls.) * Internet interactivity at a decent speed (I’m a member of an internet service where I need to input data periodically throughout the day, *some web surfing (again speed is important, I’m not the most patient person in the world), *e-mail (I have a yahoo account and a Google – gmail- account), *a decent camera where I can download pics to the computer and print them and, *hopefully the ability to develop a word or Excel doc.
Oh, and ease of use is important as I'm slightly technically challenged. But, I'm getting better.
I’ve heard that the Blackberry Curve from Verizon, the LG Dare, and the LG Voyager are good phones that would enable me to do all the above.
Thanks for your time.
Kim
Posted by: Kim | July 19, 2008 2:42 PM