Opinion - Chicago (IL) - In late 2007 when I was in San Francisco for Intel's Developer Forum, I signed up for Verizon Wireless broadband. Since then I have used it all across this nation while driving back and forth, and apart from some sporadic loss of signals when driving in mountain ranges, I have never had any problem with the service. And today, I found out that Verizon is still honoring their unlimited usage contracts made before their current 5GB capped contracts.
Verizon's VZAccess Manager is their software tool used to communicate with the broadband card. In my case, I use a PCMCIA adapter in my Toshiba Satellite notebook, though there is also a micro-PCMCIA and USB card available. From VZAccess Manager, Internet connections are made, as are disconnects along with some additional functionality. The "Usage" button does a real-time inquiry against Verizon's databases to report total usage in MB or GB depending on use levels. The "Log" button shows a detailed upload and download screen for each connection -- including connect time, duration and resulting state (such as successful connect, or failure, network disconnect, etc.).
I had noticed my usage for this month had already exceeded 5 GB. As a result, I spoke with Wolfgang Gruener, TG Daily's founder, over Skype about this saying how great it was to not have bandwidth caps. He told me Verizon did have a bandwidth cap and that I would probably receive a hefty bill. So I called Verizon to find out for sure, because I remembered when I signed up for the service that the contract advertised unlimited use across their entire network.
I found out that Verizon does have a 5GB cap on new contracts. However, they are honoring old unlimited use contracts from the timeframe in which I signed up. The service rep advised me never ever to change my contract. He said, "Don't upgrade, switch, transfer, add services, remove anything, or do anything to your service because when you do the new contract will come into effect with its new terms and conditions, and the 5GB cap will be there too."
It is very nice to know that companies are honoring the contracts they agreed to honor when they were signed, and are not automatically downgrading those contracts as is reportedly happening with Comcast and other carriers imposing new bandwidth limitations.
While being potential news, this article is filed under Opinion because it is one person's experience with Verizon Wireless. If anyone has alternate experiences, please post details here.
Verizon's VZAccess Manager is their software tool used to communicate with the broadband card. In my case, I use a PCMCIA adapter in my Toshiba Satellite notebook, though there is also a micro-PCMCIA and USB card available. From VZAccess Manager, Internet connections are made, as are disconnects along with some additional functionality. The "Usage" button does a real-time inquiry against Verizon's databases to report total usage in MB or GB depending on use levels. The "Log" button shows a detailed upload and download screen for each connection -- including connect time, duration and resulting state (such as successful connect, or failure, network disconnect, etc.).
I had noticed my usage for this month had already exceeded 5 GB. As a result, I spoke with Wolfgang Gruener, TG Daily's founder, over Skype about this saying how great it was to not have bandwidth caps. He told me Verizon did have a bandwidth cap and that I would probably receive a hefty bill. So I called Verizon to find out for sure, because I remembered when I signed up for the service that the contract advertised unlimited use across their entire network.
I found out that Verizon does have a 5GB cap on new contracts. However, they are honoring old unlimited use contracts from the timeframe in which I signed up. The service rep advised me never ever to change my contract. He said, "Don't upgrade, switch, transfer, add services, remove anything, or do anything to your service because when you do the new contract will come into effect with its new terms and conditions, and the 5GB cap will be there too."
It is very nice to know that companies are honoring the contracts they agreed to honor when they were signed, and are not automatically downgrading those contracts as is reportedly happening with Comcast and other carriers imposing new bandwidth limitations.
While being potential news, this article is filed under Opinion because it is one person's experience with Verizon Wireless. If anyone has alternate experiences, please post details here.