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Verizon introduce radical new pricing plans allowing customers to share data between phones, computers and tablet devices (but will it actually save you any money?)

By Associated Press and Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 00:26 EST, 13 June 2012 | Updated: 00:26 EST, 13 June 2012

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Verizon Wireless has announced new ‘Share Everything’ plans which allow customers to share minutes, messages and data between their phone, computers and tablet devices.

The nation's largest cellphone company is bringing in the new plans, which start at $50 per month, to encourage users to connect more devices, such as their computer, to the Verizon network.

The move lets groups or families share a monthly data allowance spread over as many as 10 devices.

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Pricing plan shake-up: Verizon Wireless have announced their new ¿Share Everything¿ plans, which allow customers to share minutes, messages and data between their phone, computers and tablet devices

The idea is likely to be copied quickly, at least by AT&T Inc., which has already said it is considering introducing shared-data plans soon.

Verizon's move 'is the most profound change to pricing the telecom industry has seen in twenty years,' said Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.

But the move was immediately slated by Free Press, which said that the new plans push customers into paying more.

'The data plans are no better because they also push customers to pay more, starting with sky-high device fees,' said policy director Matt Wood.

'Even before using any shared data, a family of four would have to pay $160 each and every month just to connect four smartphones to Verizon's network.'

For Verizon, the approach reflects a desire to keep growing now that nearly every American already has a phone.

In the first quarter of this year, phone companies reported a drop in the number of phones on contract-based plans, which are the most lucrative.

To keep service revenues rising, companies are betting on increased data usage, and that means getting more data-hungry devices on their networks.

Verizon's new 'Share Everything' plans will become available June 28. They include unlimited phone calls and texts and will start at $90 per month for one smartphone and one gigabyte of data.

'Share Everything': Verizon hopes the new plans, which start at $50 per month, will encourage users to connect more devices, such as their computer, to the Verizon network

If used only with a smartphone, 'Share Everything' prices are lower than current plans with unlimited calling and texting, but higher than plans with limited calling and texting.

The plans will push many subscribers toward spending more by including unlimited calling and texting by default.

Unlimited calling plans provide peace of mind, but not many people need them, and the average number of minutes used is declining.

From Verizon's perspective, offering unlimited access is an efficient use of its network, because calling and texting take up little capacity. Data usage, on the other hand, consumes a lot of network resources.

The savings will come to subscribers who add more devices to their plans. In such cases, the new pricing system will be cheaper compared with having separate data plans for each device.

Today, few consumers put tablets on data plans, probably because they dread paying an extra $30 or so per month, on top of their phone bills.

Under 'Share Everything,' adding a tablet to a plan will cost $10 per month. Adding a USB data stick for a laptop will cost $20.

Verizon's limited calling and texting plans will disappear, except for one $40-per-month plan intended for 'dumb' phones. Verizon is keeping its limited-data plans for single non-phone devices, like the $30 tablet plan.

Family plan: Verizon's new plan lets groups or families share a monthly data allowance spread over as many as 10 different devices

On the whole, current Verizon customers will be able to switch to the new plans or keep their old ones.

Although customers with unlimited-data plans for their smartphones won't be able to move those to new phones.

To do so they will have to pay the full, unsubsidized price for those phones. (For example, an iPhone 4S that costs $200 with a two-year contract costs $650 unsubsidized, with no contract.)

Verizon stopped offering unlimited-data plans last summer. The industry as a whole is moving away from the plans, since the data capacity of their networks is limited.

Under the new plans, subscribers can stop worrying about monitoring the number of calling minutes or text messages their families use in a month, but they'll have to keep a close eye on data consumption.

Verizon will allow subscribers to adjust their data allowance from month to month, but if they go over their monthly allotment, it'll cost them $15 per gigabyte.

The data allowances start at $50 per month for one gigabyte. That's enough for a prudent couple with two smartphones who use Wi-Fi a lot, but Verizon recommends getting two gigabytes for $60.

After that, each additional two gigabytes cost an extra $10 per month.

Under 'Share Everything,' Verizon will stop charging extra for letting devices act as 'mobile Wi-Fi hotspots.' That means subscribers with a recent smartphone could use it to connect a tablet to the Internet.

Moffett sees the new plan as cementing the dominance of Verizon and the No. 2 carrier, AT&T. That's because the shared-data plan encourages a family to use devices from one company, rather than spreading out the bills.

'In a household with two or three AT&T or Verizon devices — say, a smartphone and a tablet or two, and one device from T-Mobile or Sprint ... Sprint doesn't stand a chance,' Moffett said.

Verizon had telegraphed the move toward shared plans, but had not revealed details or pricing.

Verizon Wireless has 93 million subscribers on its plans. It's a joint venture of New York-based phone company Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, a British cellphone company with wide international interests.

Verizon shares rose 38 cents to close at $42.94. In afternoon trading, the shares hit a four-year high of $42.95.

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