Verizon moves to longer and stricter upgrade times

Customers will now be waiting an extra 4 months for new phones

A few changes to how Verizon is doing upgrades were announced today, none of which are particularly beneficial to subscribers. The current 20-month waiting period for device upgrades has been extended to 24-months; Verizon says this "aligns the upgrade date with the contract end date and is consistent with how the majority of customers purchase new phones today." Current contracts that are up in January of 2014 or later will be affected by this change.

Verizon has also given a 3 day notice that all New Every Two program credits will expire. Anyone wishing to make use of their credits before they're gone forever must do so before April 15. Upgrade sharing is here to stay, but upgrades can no longer be mixed and matched between device types. That is, an upgrade for a phone can only be used for a phone, not for a tablet or hotspot.

This is an interesting move by Verizon, coming only a few weeks after T-Mobile's no-contract plans. It looks like Big Red isn't worried about longer and more restricted upgrades pushing folks over to other carriers, especially now that no contract plans with separate phone payments are being offered. Will these changes affect your carrier of choice? Sing out in the comments.

Source: Verizon

Via: Verizon moves to longer and stricter upgrade times