As the initial rollouts of 5G service across the United States begin, many people are wondering: how much more expensive will 5G access be as compared to what we currently pay for 4G LTE?
The answer to that question when it comes to Verizon was $10 — as in $10 more added to your current 4G bill. However, according to Android Central, it appears that upcharge is getting waived, at least for now.
Tami Erwin, head of the new business-focused unit at Verizon, told Android Central that the $10 charge won’t apply for people who buy the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. This means that, for an indeterminate amount of time, 5G access will be the exact same price as 4G access on the Galaxy S10 5G.
However, there is another device available at Verizon that can access 5G service: the Motorola Moto Z3 with a 5G Moto Mod attached. It seems that Moto Z3 owners will need to pay the $10 surcharge after the previously-announced initial three-months-long trial ends.
Why Verizon would be essentially punishing early adopters with a surcharge is unclear. We’ve reached out to the company for clarification and will update this article if and when we hear back.
It’s very likely Verizon is temporarily removing the surcharge for 5G because of the spotty coverage offered in the two live cities (Chicago and Minneapolis). If the rollouts in the next 20 cities go in a similar fashion, it would likely be a PR problem to charge customers more for a service which, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t work as it should.
For what it’s worth, AT&T’s plan for 5G service charges will allegedly be tiered by speeds, not unlike most broadband services. No pricing has been announced yet for AT&T though.
NEXT: Verizon CEO confirms it will offer Galaxy Note with 5G later this year