As you may have heard, today Verizon is starting to charge new customers for data usage. Big Red has been planning this for a while now, following in the footsteps of AT&T and T Mobile (Sprint is now the only major provider to offer free unlimited data). Those who already have contracts with Verizon with unlimited data plans will have their unlimited status grandfathered in, but newcomers will be required to choose from a three-tiered pricing plan: $30 for 2GB of data, $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB.
Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney says 95 percent of customers currently use less than 2 gigabytes of data, but CNET notes that with 2 gigabytes of data, a customer can stream a little more than 2 hours of music or stream 35 minutes of video each day for a month. That's not much! To help soften the blow, Adriana Lee at Business Insider has come up with some handy tips for managing your data. Among them: Download apps, games, music, podcasts on Wi-Fi only, watch for applications that use location data in the background, and check your email accounts and set them for manual download.
Business Insider has more data-saving tips on their website, and mercifully none of them include turning off the damn phone and being open and available to those around you in the present moment.
