Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) customers will get a $100 service credit if they activate a new smartphone with a two-year contract between now and the end of February, according to a post from the blog Android Central.
According to the blog, which cited an internal training document, Verizon will offer a $100 discount for any new smartphone line of service started from Feb. 7 to Feb. 28, as long as it comes with a two-year agreement and the customer's line stays active for 60 days. The document says there will also be an activation fee exemption through Feb. 17, which would give another $35 in savings when activating a new line.
Verizon spokeswoman Debi Lewis told FierceWireless that the promotion is for smartphones but said that it appeared as though national retailers were the ones offering the promotion, not Verizon itself. She noted that while Verizon works with retailers on a daily basis, this specific promotion is "something they are offering to customers in their locations." She declined to comment further.
Representatives from Best Buy, Walmart and Target did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
If the promotion is in effect, it would mark a move by Verizon, albeit a tentative and conservative one, to strike back at rivals AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) and T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS), which have been making waves in the market with discounts, price cuts and offers to switch.
Verizon also recently launched two new limited-time plans for single-line customers only, and the plans include unlimited voice, unlimited messaging and 250 MB or 1 GB of data for $45 and $60 per month, respectively. Data overages are $15 per 250 MB of data with the $45 plan, and $15 per 500 MB of data on the $60 plan. The plans essentially lower the entry price for Verizon's smartphone customers.
The new Verizon $100 offer follows one from AT&T that runs through March 31, in which AT&T is giving $100 in credit to new and existing customers who open a new line of service for each new smartphone, tablet, feature phone, mobile hotspot or Wireless Home Phone they add.
AT&T also recently cut prices on its higher-end Mobile Share shared data plans. AT&T said customers who choose a Mobile Share plan with 10 GB of data per month or higher will see a range of savings, depending upon their existing plans.
T-Mobile has announced it will pay up to $650 in early termination fees (ETFs) for customers who want to switch to T-Mobile from other carriers and trade in their devices. That offering is not a promotion.
Meanwhile, Sprint (NYSE:S) prepaid brand Boost Mobile is launching a promotion for LTE customers that cuts the price of service down to $35 per month for the first six months. After six months, service pricing will go up to $50 per month. However, as Boost notes, once the introductory rate ends, customers will qualify for Boost's Shrinking Payments plan. Payments will start at $50 per month, and for every six on-time payments, Sprint will take $5 off the customer's monthly bill, letting them pay as little as $40 a month.
For more:
- see this Android Central post
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