News: Sick of Your Phone? Upgrade in 30 Days with Verizon's Edge Plan...with Some Huge Catches

The in-fighting between the major US carriers just got a little more interesting. In July of last year, T-Mobile introduced their JUMP! plan, letting customers upgrade their devices after just six months, up to twice a year. Buy a device, split up the price into monthly payments, and pay an additional $10/month to enroll in the service.

AT&T soon followed suit with the announcement of their Next program. The program is similar to T-Mobiles'—make 12 monthly payments on your device and trade it in for a new one (or make 18 lesser payments and trade in after a year and a half).

Not to be outdone, Verizon Wireless introduced their Edge plans. Touting a no upgrade fee, no long term contract model, the nation's largest network was not about to be left out of the loop. But as of January 19th, Big Red has gone a step further than their competition, allowing members to upgrade their devices within 30 days of purchase (previously 6 months from purchase). But before you get too excited, check out the fine print:

• You must sign up for an installment plan for your device, with 24 monthly payments (in lieu of a 24 month contract).
• You must make at least half of your payments before you are eligible for a device upgrade.
• You must trade in your old device before you can receive your new one.

So what does this mean for the average customer? Not much! I know I wouldn't be willing to shell out hundreds of dollars to reach 50% of my phone price, just to hand it over to Verizon for a new phone and a new set of payments. But than again, if money is no issue, and you need to be on the bleeding edge of phone technology, this is right up your alley.

Existing customers can also sign up, but you must be currently eligible for an upgrade, and you also will have to forgo any current Verizon service plan for the new Edge plans. So, if you were lucky enough to get on an unlimited data plan, you'll be swiftly transitioned to a new plan with accompanying data caps.

What do you think the 30 day upgrade? Would you be willing to pay up? Let us know in the comments below.