Verizon incentivizes customers to switch in a big way

It seems that everyone in the wireless industry these days is doing everything in their power to get customers to switch to their network by offering incentives that help buy them out of their old contract so that they can ditch their old carrier in peace. T-Mobile started this with one of their uncarrier announcements, but since then everyone has been copycatting them in one way or another to the point that AT&T’s CEO has said that eventually contracts are going to go away altogether. Verizon is now announcing that they will give customers who switch from another carrier (and they’re confident that you will) $650 per line to pay off your contract with your old carrier so you will come back to Big Red.

Verizon cites that 87 percent of T-Mobile customers and 86 percent of Sprint customers who switched back to Verizon within six months of leaving Verizon said “Network quality and performance” was the number one reason they came back, so they have decided to help customers get out of their equipment installment plan (EIP) or whatever early termination fees may apply.

How it works

You’ll get up to $650 on a prepaid card for the installment plan balance less the device trade-in value (or up to a $350 prepaid card for early termination fees less the device trade-in value). Your trade-in must be in good working condition and be worth more than $0, and you must keep the new line active for a minimum of 6 months.

If you were thinking about switching to Verizon now may be the time, especially since they’re offering 2GB per month for life* if you switch by January 6th.

Source: Verizon Wireless

The post Verizon incentivizes customers to switch in a big way appeared first on AndroidGuys.

Botched database leaks records for 191 million voters

Did you vote in a US election sometime this century? If so, your personal info may be out in the open. Researcher Chris Vickery has discovered that a badly configured database exposed the voter registration info for 191 million Americans, including addresses, party affiliations and state voter IDs. It’s not clear who originally managed the data, but Vickery and Databreaches.net are reaching out to everyone from online services to Congressional political action committees. The two are also contacting law enforcement in hopes of shutting down the leak, although it’s not certain that officials are taking action.

The consequences of this database falling into the wrong hands could be severe, as you might have guessed. Less-than-scrupulous marketers and political campaigns could exploit the data, and criminals could combine it with other info to commit fraud or theft. It’s a particularly big problem for people who need to keep their details secret, such as stalking victims and police. Beyond this, the leak illustrates the need for stricter, consistent security standards around voter data — while states like California and South Dakota have sharp limits on where records go and what they’re used for, other states (including Alaska, Arkansas and Colorado) have no real restrictions. There’s a real possibility that this kind of incident could happen again.

[Image credit: Getty Images]

Via: CSO, Forbes

Source: Databreaches.net

Verizon will give you up to $650 to switch to its network

Verizon announced today that it will be offering up to $650 to help with costs when switching over to its network. We’ve seen other carriers offer something similar, such as T-Mobile and its Carrier Freedom promotion.

Big Red will give you up to $650 per line to switch over to its network, but that’s only if you have an outstanding balance on your smartphone of up to that amount. Alternatively, Verizon will only give you $350 if you pay early termination fees.

There are, of course, some caveats. You must order a new smartphone with monthly payments from Verizon, and you have to port your number over to the carrier. This means that consumers must qualify for a monthly payment plan, which depends on your credit score/history (even those with good credit sometimes don’t qualify, for some reason).

Keep in mind that Verizon won’t be writing you a check. This $650 will come in the form of a Visa pre-paid gift card, which will come in the mail 6-8 weeks after sending in your smartphone. Of course, the carrier you’re leaving might not want to wait that long, so you may have to shell out the money upfront and use the gift card to cover costs elsewhere.

Verizon is offering this new promotion to those who are eligible starting today.

source: Verizon

Come comment on this article: Verizon will give you up to $650 to switch to its network

Reliance Jio will begin offering their 4G network to India in 2016

Reliance Jio, which happens to be a subsidiary of one of India’s private businesses, has announced that they’ll finally be rolling out a 4G network to customers over the next year. Currently, the network has gone live for employees, but the rest of India can expect to see it in 2016.

This network is completely forward-thinking and will supposedly be able to be upgraded to 5G when the time comes. This does mean that their network will be 4G only with no backwards compatibility with 3G, which means VoLTE will be a high priority.

While Reliance Jio won’t be the first carrier to offer 4G in India, they will be the first to offer a unified network across the entire country. The official rollout is expected sometime in March or April.

source: Android Central

Come comment on this article: Reliance Jio will begin offering their 4G network to India in 2016