Verizon expands smartphone lineup for $80 prepaid plan

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) is vastly expanding the number of smartphones that can be paired with its $80 per month smartphone plan, which it first introduced in April

Motorola Droid 3 prepaid

The Motorola Droid 3 is one of a number of phones now available through Verizon's prepaid service.

Up until now the plan--which offers unlimited voice minutes and texting and 1 GB of data--was only paired with Samsung Illusion. However, Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney confirmed that the carrier will now be offering the plan through nearly two-dozen more devices, including ones from Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK). The new phones for the $80 plan include:

--BlackBerry: 8330, 8530, 9330, 9370, 9530, 9630, 9850, 9930
--Palm: Pre Plus, Pre 2, Pre 3, Pixi Plus
--Android: Motorola's Droid 2, Droid X, Droid 2 Global, Droid R2D2, Droid 3 and Droid Pro; the HTC Merge; and the LG Ally, Enlighten, and Vortex
--Nokia 7705

Raney declined to comment on future phones Verizon might pair with the $80 prepaid smartphone plan. The new phones were first reported by Prepaid Reviews.

Verizon's $80 prepaid plan is $10 cheaper than its new lower-level Share Everything plan, which provides unlimited voice, texting and 1 GB of data for a postpaid smartphone for $90 per month. Verizon launched the $80 prepaid plan after seeing success from its $50 per month "Unleashed" plan, which included unlimited voice, texting and Web usage, but no data allotment. 

The Verizon $80 prepaid plan sits at the high end of the prepaid market, especially when compared to offerings from the likes of Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) brands Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile. However, AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) this spring also revamped its prepaid smartphone plans to include more data options.

For more:
- see this Prepaid Reviews article
- see this Verizon post

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