All newly activated Verizon EVDO data plans include overage charges

Apparently, this started on March 2nd, 2008. Anytime you go over 5GB in a month, you get slapped with $0.49 per MB charges.

I signed up a few years ago when they were first rolling out EVDO nationwide. My account still shows "Unlimited", although based on the fact that they were sued in the past on their definition of "Unlimited", I will be watching my bill closely the next few months.

I predict a mass exodus away from Verizon's EVDO plans if they continue to do this. Why? 5GB a month is extremely easy to go over in a month's time.

Mind you, we're not playing World of Warcraft or downloading BitTorrent content. This is strictly web content, e-mail, and an occasional RDP session which I must do for work from time to time. Even so, when I do "work stuff", I typically try to use my work phone for the data usage.

Sprint has been aggressively rolling out EVDO in Ottawa county due to the broadband agreement they reached with the county and AllTel is all around us otherwise. Even though I enjoy EVDO Rev. A speeds, I will drop Verizon like a bad habit if they try to retroactively apply these new charges to our account. It isn't what we signed up for, and it is not in our contract.

Sprint and AllTel have good roaming agreements for EVDO and they don't have these excessive charges.

If Verizon Wireless was the only provider in the area, we'd be "stuck with them", much like our cable situation. We have Charter cable available in our neighborhood but it is analog only. I am curious if the 2009 digital TV cut over will affect the "analog only" situation, but I suspect they are not going to upgrade us anytime soon. There is plenty of interest in our neighborhood for cable modems but that never seems to change their plans.

I'm not necessarily excited that Verizon won most the VHF spectrum if they are going to do business like this.

I would love to have FIOS, but I suspect that will not happen anytime soon either, due to the fact that we don't have DSL available out here.

Ultimately, Verizon is punishing customers that have no other choice in Internet broadband. Hopefully, the free market will show them that "The Network" is easily replaceable, and other providers will move into Verizon dominated territories. It seems to be happening, little by little.