Thread: How to activate a phone without paying smartphone plan with Verizon?

I want to get a smartphone but I dont want to pay the extra smart phone plan fee with verizon ( additional or something like that). I just want the phone for the looks, really. Anybody ever try buying a phone from ebay or someone , than activating it without suscribing to the smartphone plan? Im thinking of buying one on ebay and just activating it online through verizon's website. (Im already a current verizon customer).

I only use MMS (text, picture and video)

Yes, You can get a smart phone and not subscribe to the data package. Ive done it. You can just get a basic calling plan. BUT... if you use any data through the phone, they charge a small fortune.

Would picture messages be considered as data?

picture and video messages go along with texts. so no, it's not considered data

you have to get web or e-mail plans with i believe is an extra 29.99/month.

Now that all the companies have REQUIRED data plans for all multifunction phones, is there still a way to activate a phone without buying into the Verizon requirements? Has anyone tried it since the change over last month?