In spite of Verizon Wireless’ recent boasts that it’s “a leader, not a follower,” a new announcement from the nation’s biggest wireless company shows that Big V is indeed following the competition down the path of charging customers less for their data plans. However, current Verizon subscribers will need to let the company know they want to save money (or get more data).

It’s a little confusing, so stick with us for a moment.

Verizon MORE Everything customers who currently have monthly data allotments of 1GB, 2GB, 3GB, or 4GB will have an option on how they want to save.

They can either get more data for their money by getting 1GB of additional data per month for no extra charge OR they can have their bill reduced by $10/month.

So someone with a 2GB plan is currently paying $50/month. If they take the free data option, that goes to 3GB for the same price. Or they can elect to stick with the 2GB and their data bill drops to $40/month.

A rep for Verizon confirms to Consumerist that current Verizon subscribers will not be automatically opted into either of these choices and must let the company know — either by calling customer service or through the Verizon website — when the changes kick in tomorrow, Feb. 5.

For new customers or those looking to change their data plans, Verizon is also offering a new 6GB/month tier at $70.

Verizon is also making its Edge program, where you pay full price for your phone in monthly installments, more attractive. Customers with plans starting at 6GB/month or more will get a $25/month discount. Currently, to qualify for that level of discount, you need to be on a plan of 10GB/month or more. Plans of 4GB/month or less still see a monthly discount of $15.

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