Visible, the budget wireless brand owned by Verizon, has launched a new premium plan that is giving its parent company's offerings a run for their money. The new Visible Plus Pro plan costs $45 per month, a significant discount compared to Verizon's entry-level unlimited plan, Unlimited Welcome, which starts at $65 per month.

The Visible Plus Pro plan offers unlimited 5G Ultrawideband (UW) data, a feature that is not included in Verizon's basic plan. Additionally, the plan comes without throttling, meaning that users will not experience slowdowns even when the network is busy. This is a significant advantage over many lower-cost carrier plans and MVNOs, which often offer a certain allotment of "premium" data before throttling kicks in.

The plan also includes unlimited hotspot usage at up to 15 Mbps, a feature that Verizon's basic plan does not offer. In fact, Verizon charges an extra $10 per month for hotspot data. Furthermore, the Visible Plus Pro plan includes 4K video streaming and service for one cellular smartwatch, features that are not included in Verizon's basic unlimited plan.

One concern with Visible's plan is that Verizon might put Visible traffic on a lower network tier than its own postpaid customers. However, according to Android Authority's comprehensive comparison between Visible and Verizon, Visible's premium plan is actually assigned a higher-priority Quality of Service Class Indicator (QCI) than Verizon's Unlimited Welcome. This means that Visible users may actually experience better network performance than Verizon users.

The launch of the Visible Plus Pro plan is a significant development in the wireless market, as it offers consumers a more affordable option with more features than its parent company's offerings. This move is likely to put pressure on Verizon to reevaluate its pricing strategy and may lead to a more competitive market for wireless services.

It's worth noting that Visible's plan is not without its limitations. The plan is only available to individual users, and families or businesses may not be able to take advantage of the discounted rate. Additionally, the plan's unlimited hotspot usage is capped at 15 Mbps, which may not be sufficient for heavy users.

Despite these limitations, the Visible Plus Pro plan is a significant development in the wireless market, and its impact will be closely watched by industry observers. As the wireless market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Verizon and other carriers respond to Visible's aggressive pricing strategy.