Speaking at an investor conference this week Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo insisted the company's shared data plans are being well received, and despite T-Mobile's recent return to unlimited wireless data, insisted that the option is going the way of the dinosaur. Verizon launched their shared data plans back in June to mixed reviews, its steep $15 per GB overage and per device fees countering most of the savings provided by offering unlimited voice and text. A recent study found that the plans confuse many customers, with 40% preferring to switch carrier than lose the option of unlimited data.

Verizon is busily insisting that unlimited is dead because that's very much what they'd like to happen, despite indication that there's many, many customers who still prefer the simplicity of the option -- even if they have to pay a premium for it. Shammo insisted that "many" customers were leaving their unlimited data plans for shared data, but failed to provide any hard numbers whatsoever:Unlimited may be just a word, but it's a word Verizon would very much like to go away. It's also a word that has long been abused by the industry, as Verizon found out in 2007 when they were sued by NY's Attorney General for pretending EVDO service with a 5 GB cap was unlimited. It remains unclear if Verizon can kill off unlimited through sheer willpower alone, but it's fairly clear that they intend to try.