Verizon’s $100 Moto G For Pre-Paid Plans Launches Jan. 9

Verizon recently confirmed that it will sell Motorola’s Moto G off contract for $99, though at the time we didn’t know when it was going to launch. Today, the carrier announced that the device will be available beginning on Jan. 9 with its prepaid plans.

While you can already pick up an unlocked Moto G for global GSM and U.S. GSM networks (AT&T, T-Mobile, Straight Talk, etc. those that use a SIM card), this is the first time it’s available direct from Verizon. It also comes in at an even more affordable price point, $80 less than what Motorola sells it for. There aren’t any drawbacks to Verizon’s version either, you’ll get the same great device and even 50GB of free Google Drive storage for two years. Verizon’s model launches with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean but Motorola is already moving quickly to get Android 4.4 KitKat to the Moto G, so its model should have it soon, too.

Verizon’s prepaid plans are simple: you can pick up a $60 option with unlimited talk, text and 2GB of data per month, or a $70 plan with 4GB of data and unlimited talk and text. The Moto G will be available direct from Verizon on January 9 though should hit other retailers like Best Buy shortly after.

What makes this phone a fundamentally great idea, especially on a prepaid network on as vast a coverage area that Verizon offers, is giving the opportunity for people who never had a smartphone or want one without a lot of cost a try. It's the most inexpensive smartphone ever offered with the amount of great hardware (processor, screen resolution, screen size) Motorola is offering. One idea that comes to mind is for a teenager. They want a smartphone so they can use social media to stay up to date with their friends but what happens when you decide to punish them for staying out late, bad grades, or worst. With a traditional plan you still have to pay their portion of next month's bill ahead of time but with pre-paid you don't have to. Just to pay. Then in a month or two when they can use their phone again, just start paying again. It's that simple. And as much as I am not a fan of Verizon's outrageous costs, customer service, and restrictions they place on consumers and their phones, they do have a huge network so the excuse of "I didn't have any signal to call you" is highly unlikely.

Source: Verizon