Verizon Kills off Cheapest Prepaid Plans as AT&T Increases Data Allowances

Verizon has killed several of their lowest-cost prepaid plans, according to a new report. The phone company nixed its $15 and $30 prepaid plans sometime between Oct. 14 and the beginning of November. Notably, the $15 plan included unlimited mobile web and 300 minutes or texts, while the $30 plan had no data, but featured unlimited voice minutes and messaging, according to PrepaidPhoneNews.

While users with existing plans shouldn’t be affected, new prepaid accounts will no longer be able to sign up for the cheaper options. Instead, Verizon is instating a new plan that starts at $45 a month. This plan will include 2GB of data. Alternatively, a $60 plan includes 5GB of LTE data. Both plans include unlimited talk and text in the US and unrestricted text messaging to Mexico and Canada, while the more expensive plan also includes unlimited talk time for the United States’ neighboring countries, PocketNow reported.

This news seems like a stark contrast to AT&T’s recent prepaid wireless moves. Unlike Verizon, AT&T has upped the amount of data included in extension packages. Its $30-a-month plan now offers 250 megabytes of data for $5 — instead of 100 megabytes — while users of its more expensive $45-a-month plan can buy 1 gigabyte of data for $10 — instead of 500 megabytes. So while it seems like AT&T is trying to aggressively pursue the prepaid market — even at the expensive of postpaid users — Verizon seems to have taken the opposite approach. The latter company has even shied away from the prepaid market to focus more of its energy on customers who purchase postpaid plans, Fierce Wireless reported. Verizon’s roster of phones available for prepaid plans tends to be more extensive than AT&T’s, and includes new phones such as the iPhone 7 and Google Pixel.

It’s worth noting that users who have either of the nixed plans should be grandfathered — meaning that they’ll be able to keep their plans at that price point as long as they remain active.