14 DAY TRIAL // Customers who have purchased or consider buying the HTC Thunderbolt from Verizon are in for a nice surprise, as the carrier is about to offer a promotion for the Mobile Hotspot feature. Thunderbolt owners with a voice plan and data package of $29.99 or higher will receive unlimited access to Mobile Hotspot through May 15.
However, once the promotion ends, new and existing Verizon Thunderbolt users will be required to pay a monthly fee for Mobile Hotspot.
It is expected that the carrier will roll out an over-the-air (OTA) software upgrade on May 15 that will allow customers to subscribe to this service.
HTC Thunderbolt is now available for purchase in Verizon stores and online for $249.99 with a new two-year customer agreement or $599.99 unlocked.
Those who prefer to purchase Verizon's HTC Thunderbolt off-contract will have to pay for a $50 data-only plan, which will net them 5 GB of data and $10 overage fee for each extra 1GB until the end of the month.
In addition, customers will have to sign up for a voice and data plan on a month-to-month agreement, as the device supports simultaneous voice and data over 3G.
Furthermore, it seems that the smaller $20 plan for 2 GB data will not be available for LTE phones.
The leaked document also mentions that customers currently on the $15 package can keep it when they upgrade and use Mobile Hotspot, but usage over 150 MB would drive unspecified overage charges. Obviously, customers are recommended to upgrade to an unlimited plan to avoid paying extra charges.
The MyVerizon application that comes pre-loaded with the HTC Thunderbolt will be updated to track 4G LTE data usage.
It appears that these changes will go live starting March 17, so we should expect Verizon to make an official announcement later today.
