I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing like a little mid-afternoon rumor to tickle my fancy. The gang at BGR received intel today regarding a Verizon Wireless early upgrade program. It’s taking place in select regions across the US, and while there are restrictions, it offers certain customers the ability to upgrade to a smartphone. Obviously, the plan is to get basic and featurephone users to upgrade into a smartphone (and subsequently, a $30 monthly data plan), but for those that already wanted to upgrade, this might be the perfect opportunity. Like anything in this world, there are stipulations:
- User can not already have a 3G smartphone
- User will not be eligible for another upgrade for at least 12 months
- Eligibility and NE2 dates will be extended 20 months
- Customers can’t already be eligible for a standard upgrade
- Can only upgrade once during period
- Can’t be combined with other offers
- Unlimited ($29.99 minimum) data plan required
- New two-year agreement must be signed
According to the source, the promotion is for Sam’s Club and Target kiosks only (which makes sense, given the “eROES” moniker in the document – eROES is the Verizon lookup tool that indirect locations use). Rumored markets eligible for the promotion include Northern California, Central Texas, Upstate New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
For those in the test/launch markets, how does it sound? Are you going to upgrade to a smartphone, or hold off for a while?