Verizon has launched a new promotion to lure more people to sign up for its latest Unlimited wireless plans, giving FiOS customers a credit for signing up for their latest wireless service plan.
Customers will get a $250 Verizon Wireless gift card and $250 in bill credits when switching to Verizon Unlimited and signing up for FiOS TV, internet and phone.
Existing Verizon Wireless customers that reside in a FiOS-capable market will be able to add FiOS TV, internet and phone with a two-year contract. New Verizon customers that take both offers will be able to get $500 back.
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The offering is not without various catches. Wireless customers that exceed a 22-GB-a-month data allowance will find their data being prioritized behind other Verizon customers during network congestion. Also, mobile hotspot/tethering is reduced to 3G speeds after 10 GB/month.
The new offer, which just began yesterday, serves two purposes: promoting its new $45-a-month Unlimited wireless plan and making FiOS an attractive option for cable customers or new residents that have moved to a FiOS territory.
Having sold off its wireline assets in California, Texas and Florida (CTF) to Frontier, Verizon’s FiOS footprint is mainly relegated to the East Coast, so the telco needs to find another way to potentially increase its FiOS subscriber base. The telco has seen its FiOS subscriber additions level off during the past year as the markets it serves have become more mature.
During the fourth quarter of 2016, Verizon reported that it only added 68,000 new FiOS internet net customers and 21,000 new FiOS video customers, falling short of analyst expectations. Wall Street analysts expected Verizon to add 83,000 FiOS internet and 31,000 video subscribers. FiOS internet subscriber growth is much lower than the 99,000 new FiOS subscribers it added in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Verizon is hardly alone in offering new promotions to attract more broadband subscribers.
Frontier has launched a series of four new bundled offers in all of the new CTF markets and some of its legacy markets, including the Pacific Northwest, Indiana and Connecticut. As part of these offers, Frontier offers an Amazon gift card and special installation intervals.