14 DAY TRIAL // Starting today, Verizon Wireless plans to offer one BlackBerry for free for every similar handset acquired. This special buy-one-get-one-free offer will run from February 6 until March 31, and is reported to apply to all BlackBerrys in the carrier's offering, including the newly added Storm.
While the fact that Verizon seems to somehow throw away Storm handsets, which were its card against AT&T and its iPhone, could be surprising, there is a catch. The mobile phone operator gives a device for free, but asks for a two year contract to be signed for each of the smartphones. Although the piece of hardware is given for free, the carrier will still have a lot to win on a long term through the contract.
According to some voices over the web, Verizon's move might be driven by the fact that it wants to clear out its inventory of BlackBerrys. At the same time, although Storm has been out there for only three months, some issues with the device already surfaced, both in the software and in the hardware areas. Moreover, a software update for Storm is slated for release on the 31st of March, although this might just be a coincidence.
The current offer of BlackBerrys on Verizon includes: the BlackBerry Storm, priced $199.99, no mail-in debit card is needed on either of the two phones, the BlackBerry Curve 8330, $79.99 after a $70 debit card (after Valentine’s Day, it jumps to $99.99), the BlackBerry 8830 Global, $99.99 after $70 debit card and the BlackBerrry Pearl 8130, $19.99 after $100 debit card. Besides these handsets, the promotion also applies to Palm Centro, $49.99 after a $70 debit card, and Samsung Alias, $49.99 after a $50 debit card.
Those thinking about heading to Verizon Wireless to take advantage of the offer should also know that the second device they get needs to be of the same or lesser value than the one they pay for. Even so, and with the two-year corresponding data plan, the offer still looks nice.