Verizon's $70 gigabit plan isn't actually $70 either

[William Gayde]

Earlier this week we reported on Verizon's new $70 Fios Gigabit Connection plan that doesn't actually offer gigabit speeds. Now it turns out that the plan isn't really $70 either like Verizon's press release stated. The deal seemed a bit too good to be true so Ars Technica did some digging and discovered a mess of internal pricing structures, temporary discounts, and upgrade confusion.

The $70 price tag is actually only for new customers that don't already have Fios service. Existing customers will be charged the standard price of up to $200. Those new customers will also also have to pay router charges and some additional fees, so it looks like no one will actually get the "revolutionary price" of $70.

Further complicating things, Verizon's website isn't currently set up to upgrade existing customers despite Verizon advertising an immediate upgrade. That will be delayed until April 30th. An Ars Technica reader spoke with a Verizon customer service rep while attempting to upgrade his service and discovered that the $70 price wasn't even available in the system.

After further discussion with Verizon, it turns out that there is no exact price for this plan. The specific price a customer pays to upgrade "depends on what their current pricing is." For those new customers looking to get this new service, be sure to read the fine print very carefully. The service actually costs $195 / month for new customers but is then reduced with a temporary $115 "special bonus discount" and $10 online discount to $70 that may be valid for either one or two years.

So the TL;DR of this is Verizon's $70 Gigabit plan is not $70 and not gigabit.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/69110-update-verizon-70-gigabit-plan-isnt-actually-70.html

 

[MoeJoe]

L M A O at Big Reds rip off ... and to think people pay it.

 

[ike301]

L M A O at Big Reds rip off ... and to think people pay it.

I have FiOS and it's a fantastic service. I could never go back to Comcast. I notice that a lot of people who criticize FiOS never had the service.

 

[texasrattler]

I assume testing was done from multiple areas as not all areas will get the same speed no matter what they tell you.

All these companies say one thing but do another and no one ever does anything to them. So they are allowed to go on tv n say you get gigabit internet for $70 but never say btw its not $70 or gigabit service you actually get. That leave all that to customer service or their website. Sad times we live in when were told lies n we just accept them.

 

[oldikes]

L M A O at Big Reds rip off ... and to think people pay it.

I have FiOS and it's a fantastic service. I could never go back to Comcast. I notice that a lot of people who criticize FiOS never had the service.

Yea, because those of us who criticize FIOS either 1.) are in the strangely rare situation where you dont have to pay out the butt just to get reasonably fast speeds at a decent price or 2.) have been in that situation before and are stuck paying either normal prices for comcast or laughably inflated for FIOS

 

[Uncle Al]

NEWS FLASH: Further digging into the situation revealed that the non-gigabit at a non-$70 really isn't running over any form of CAT rated wire but is in stead, running over a simple can & string configuration. The carrier reports this is their attempt at a more nostalgic approach developed by their marketing department and the actual speed ..... well, while they are denigrating the reports, it appears to be more like 70 bps ....... more will be announced as it develops .......

 

[Evernessince]

NEWS FLASH: Further digging into the situation revealed that the non-gigabit at a non-$70 really isn't running over any form of CAT rated wire but is in stead, running over a simple can & string configuration. The carrier reports this is their attempt at a more nostalgic approach developed by their marketing department and the actual speed ..... well, while they are denigrating the reports, it appears to be more like 70 bps ....... more will be announced as it develops .......

Not just that either. The can and string was 700 billion in taxpayer money to deploy across the country. Well, at least that's what the contract with the government says, god knows when they'll get around to the less profitable regions.

 

[merikafyeah]

Does FIOS even reach a million users? Last I checked only a small list of communities even have access to FIOS and Verizon not long ago announced they basically stopped plans for increased expansion.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Yeah... when I read that they "more than halved gigabit prices" I was skeptical.

 

[Technosense]

L M A O at Big Reds rip off ... and to think people pay it.

I have FiOS and it's a fantastic service. I could never go back to Comcast. I notice that a lot of people who criticize FiOS never had the service.

Oh Ok, that certainly justifies all the deceit. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[alexandrionel]

I get in my country 1000 Mbps for $10.

 

[spydercanopus]

I had Google Fiber in Kansas City. It was 1gbps up and down for $70 a month.

It was great, but kind of overkill. My internet was faster than any single web service could send info.