Verizon luring feature-phone users to smartphones with early upgrade offer

Verizon is looking to court feature-phone users in an effort to bring them over to the smartphone side of life. At least that’s the latest word on the mean streets of the mobile blogosphere. A newly leaked Verizon memo outlines Big Red’s plans to offer current Verizon feature-phone users a chance to get early upgrade pricing on a new smartphone. Eligible customers thinking about picking up a smartphone will be offered a chance to buy the phone on the cheap(er), as long as they don’t already have a 3G handset, live in the right regions of the US, and aren’t due for a standard upgrade.

What’s up with some subscribers getting seemingly preferential treatment on Verizon Wireless? Well, Verizon makes more money off their 3G smartphone users who are required to subscribe to the carrier’s $30/month pseudo-unlimited data plan. Data plans make carriers wads of cash, so Verizon wants to convert as many regular mobile phone users into cash-generating smartphone users.

But, there are a few caveats to the program: it will be offered at Target and Sam’s Club kiosks, eligible customers cannot already be due for an upgrade or be within 12 months of an upgrade, they must not already be using a 3G phone, customers must sign on for the $30 data plan, and customer have to sign a new 2-year contract when they buy their new smartphone. The promotion will reportedly be available in the Northern California Region, Central Texas, Upstate New York, and the Ohio/Pennsylvania region.

Any deal that offers early-upgrade pricing on smartphones is just fine and dandy in our book. We’d be all over this if we hadn’t been smartphone savvy for over a decade – that’s just how we roll. Any of you feature-phone folks going to bite on this offer?

[Via: BGR]