It seems that Verizon has quietly posted the extra $ 10 / month fee it plans to charge customers who want access to its budding 5G network. The change is noticed on their website, where users have noticed the new lack of details about that previously announced 5G compensation plan. This silent change is not surprising given the competition that Verizon faces from carriers that do not charge their customers extra.
In 2019, Verizon announced that it would pay its customers $ 10 a month to access its 5G network. The idea did not go down well with consumers, as you would expect, plus the carrier’s biggest competitors – AT&T and T-Mobile – have no plans to charge their own customers this extra 5G fee. That would make both carriers a more appealing alternative to Verizon, which faces stiff competition from T-Mobile.
As first noted by Light reading, Verizon seems to be scrapping the mention of that fee from its website. A look at its current 5G offerings includes one prominent detail: “Plus, 5G UW access at no extra cost with Select Unlimited.”
Verizon publicly stuck to its 5G compensation plan as recently as last March, but something has changed since then. The carrier confirmed that it is “currently” charging no extra charge for its 5G Ultra Wideband network, indicating that something might change in the future. However, this does not seem likely unless competing carriers also decide to roll out a similar fee.
Verizon customers are still waiting for the nationwide launch of their 5G network; at present it is still only available in select major cities, including NYC, LA, Washington DC, Cleveland, Boston, Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, San Diego, and a handful of others. Earlier this year, the company said its nationwide service would arrive with only ‘some improvements’, instead of gradual upgrades over a longer period.
