Verizon’s ‘Limitless’ Data Has Its Limits

Consumers have Verizon to thank for the latest entry into the Dictionary of Confusing Data Plan Terms. The word this time: Limitless.

In a TV commercial for its new LTE Advanced network Verizon advertises that consumers should:

Switch now and get our best deal: Twenty gigs of limitless data with four lines for only $160.

To which a reader who reached out to TINA.org responded: Huh? The reader questioned how Verizon could advertise a fixed data plan that is also “limitless.”

“That’s an oxymoron,” he wrote. “20GB is the limit.”

That sentiment had been shared by some in the comments section of the commercial’s official YouTube posting, which had garnered more than 1 million views before it was removed after the publication of this ad alert.

“Unlimited > 20 gigs bruh,” wrote one such commenter, succinctly.

But Verizon says “limitless” and “unlimited” do not share the same meaning.

“Limitless refers to how you can use your data and unlimited refers to the amount of data,” said Kelly Crummey, director of corporate communications at Verizon, in response to a TINA.org inquiry.

(For the record, Oxford Dictionary defines “limitless” as “without limit” and “unlimited” as “not limited.” Exciting stuff, right?)

Crummey continued:

Our competitors claim they offer ‘unlimited plans’ but if you really look at them, they are full of limits on how you use your data with thinks (sic) like SD (not HD) and automatically slowing down your speeds. The way our plans are structured, you can use your data however you want – there are no limits.

That is, of course, until you reach your data plan limit.

Find more of our coverage on the mixed signals that cellphone ads send here.

This article was updated 9/20/16.