Verizon offers prepaid data plans for smart phones

Verizon strengthened its prepaid offerings on Thursday, introducing prepay data plans for consumers who wish to use smart phones on a no contract basis. While the acquisition costs for those phones will be significantly higher, a customer would be free to leave at any time.

Prepaid data plans would cost the user $30 per month, and include unlimited data access. The company would offer a 250MB data plan for "multimedia" phones, which would be a $10 per month add on. Both offerings would become available beginning immediately in Verizon's own stores, and online on September 28, the company said.

Data plans are not mandatory on prepaid phones, but would require a voice plan in order to be added to a user's account. The monthly fee is the same as a postpaid contract holder would pay, although its voice plans start at a $5 premium to the postpaid customer.

Many of Verizon's popular smart phones would be compatible with the prepaid service. These include the carrier's Blackberry line, the Droid X, the Droid 2, and HTC's Droid Incredible, among others. Multimedia phones compatible with the cheaper plan included the LG enV and Chocolate, Samsung Alias, and Casio Elixim.

"These new data offerings will help our prepaid customers experience the full breadth of Verizon Wireless' robust device portfolio," Verizon Wireless marketing director Jim Sullivan said. The move is also likely aimed at keeping the carrier in step with its competitors, who have increasingly been offering more smart phones in their device lineups as of late.

Essentially, prepaid users would for the most part have to pay a $200 premium on their desired device. That extra fee is compensation to Verizon Wireless for the subsidy that is normally paid for by the device manufacturer in exchange for carriage on the company's network.