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Verizon withdraws the lightest of its monthly prepaid plans

Robert Nazarian
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Verizon may have retooled its prepaid plans for the summer, but now that winter is coming (or rather, practically here), it’s cutting them back once again. Verizon has gotten rid of its $30 per month prepaid plan for smartphones, probably because it wasn’t all that great anyway. 

All you ever got with the $30 per month plan was talk and text. No data. Nada. And given the ubiquity of smartphones that, you know, need data these days just to function, it comes as little surprise that this particular plan didn’t last all that long. The firm also got rid of the even more basic $15 per month plan, which only allowed for 300 voice minutes, texts, or multimedia messages (in any combination). But don’t worry, you can still get 2GB of data with the $45 per month plan or 5GB for $60 per month. Plus, if you sign up for autopay, Big Red will throw in an extra 1GB of data, bringing the total to 3GB and 6GB for the $45 and $60 plans, respectively.

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Interestingly enough, Verizon offered these same plans in February, but apparently it will now be permanent as of May 15.

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Previously, the $45 plan had 1GB, while the $60 plan had 3GB. However, customers still had the option for an extra 1GB if they enrolled in auto pay. The bottom line here is that prepaid customers are getting an additional 1GB of data at the $45 level and an extra 2GB at the $60 level.

On top of the extra data, you will also get unlimited calling to Canada and Mexico for free if you’re on the $60 plan. And of course, you still get unlimited talk and text in the U.S. with either plan.

Verizon does offer a few phones that you can chose from, but you can also bring your own device, assuming it’s compatible with the network.

Need extra data? You can purchase an additional 500MB, 1GB, or 3GB for $5, $10, or $20, respectively. You have up to 30 days to use the additional 500MB or 90 days for the 1GB and 3GB.

Shop Pre-Paid Plans on Verizon

Article originally published in May. Updated on 11-02-2016 by Lulu Chang: Added news that Verizon has discontinued its $30/month prepaid plan. 

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Robert Nazarian
Robert Nazarian
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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