Verizon 4G LTE contract-free options confirmed

Verizon has confirmed contract-free availability for its new LTE 4G service, when the high-speed modems launch on December 5. According to Sascha Segan, Verizon will be offering the same two data tariffs for no-contract customers – $50 for 5GB of data per month, or $80 for 10GB – but the modems themselves will be priced at $249.99 each.

With a two-year agreement, the modems are only $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate; that means if you stick with the no-contract plan for more than a few months, you'll be better off paying up-front. We'd like to have seen cheaper data tariffs, but it seems Verizon isn't willing to negotiate on that front. For more on the new Verizon LTE service, and our impressive speed test results, check out our hands-on.