The days of unlimited data at Verizon will soon be over, the company said during the Reuters Global Technology Summit this week. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo confirmed that Verizon would make good on its promise to ditch its $30 unlimited data plan option this summer, and tried to soften the bad news by saying the company was planning to roll out "family" data plans that could be shared among several devices.

Verizon has long made it clear that the future of its 3G network is tiered. Late last year, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg told investors that the company would eventually swap its unlimited option with several data plans somewhat similar to AT&T's tiered plans. AT&T got rid of its own unlimited data plan last year and began offering either a 2GB tier for $25/month, or 200MB for $15 per month. "We're not sure we agree yet with how [AT&T] valued the data," Seidenberg said at the time, though he did not elaborate on which options Verizon was taking under consideration.

When speaking at the Reuters Global Technology Summit, Shammo reiterated the plan to start offering data tiers instead of the unlimited offering sometime this summer, but once again failed to offer more details on what those tiers would be or how much they will cost. (Verizon currently caps its 4G/LTE network at 5GB for $50 per month, or 10GB for $80 per month.) Still, while this is sad news for Verizon's 3G data hogs, it may be a net positive for families or even individuals with multiple 3G devices.

"I think it's safe to assume that at some point you are going to have megaplans and people are going to share that mega-plan based on the number of devices within their family. That's just a logical progression," Shammo said.

This is a feature that we have heard many AT&T users inquire about, particularly those with smartphones and tablets that each have their own, expensive data plans and no shared data cap. And when you bring your spouse or kids into the picture—people who may not use tons of data on their own—a shared data plan for the whole family makes even more sense. Verizon will undoubtedly win over a few customers by offering them a way to consolidate plans and save money—in fact, we'd be surprised if the other major carriers don't eventually follow suit.

Now if wireless providers would only let us roll over our unused data from month to month...