Verizon Wireless is offering customers of some of its smartphones and multimedia phones the option of prepaid data plans starting at the end of the month. For eligible smartphones, Verizon is offering a pay-as-you-go plan of $30 a month for unlimited data. For multimedia phones, the prepaid plans are $10 a month for 25 MB, plus 20 cents for each megabyte over the limit. The plans will be available beginning Sept. 28.

Prepaid plans do not require a long-term contract and customers can cancel anytime without a penalty. Depending on the phone, and how much its purchase price is subsidized by the carrier, customers often have to sign two-year service plans in order to get the discounted price for a phone. The smartphones covered under the Verizon plan announced Thursday include models of Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Motorola and HTC Droids. Among the multimedia phones are the LG Chocolate and Samsung Alias.

"Our prepaid customers will now have the freedom to enjoy all of the capabilities that these phones have to offer, while controlling costs and without being tied to a contract," Jim Sullivan, director of marketing for Verizon, said in a statement.

The full list of Eligible smartphones includes select models of the BlackBerry Curve, Storm, Storm2, Tour and Bold; the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus; the Motorola Droid, Droid X, Droid 2 and Devour; the HTC Droid Eris and Incredible; and the LG Ally. Qualifying multimedia phones include the LG enV Touch, enV3, Chocolate Touch and VX8360; the Samsung Alias 2 and Renown; the Nokia Twist and the Casio Exilim.

Verizon Wireless' largest competitor in the U.S. mobile phone market is AT&T, which offers prepaid plans for unlimted talk and text on some phones.

FURTHER READING:

Verizon Wireless Scores Bing Android App First

Verizon Wireless Offers Budget Phone From ZTE

Converged services, distributed workforces, private clouds, and data center consolidation are stressing many WANs. Are optimization appliances--physical and virtual--the answer? Download the report here (registration required).