It’s been just about two years since Verizon announced it was planning to end unlimited data plans for smartphone users. And in 2011, Verizon made good on its promise, getting rid of unlimited plans for new customers and forcing them to pay at least $30 a month for limited plans.

Meanwhile, existing users with unlimited data have been able to “grandfather” in their special plans, carrying them over when they upgrade to new devices. But this week Verizon is dreaming again, this time of a future in which everyone must surrender their grandfathered plans.

Gizmodo’s Kyle Wagner cut to the chase:

Killing unlimited — especially grandfathered plans — was always going to piss off, well, everyone, but Verizon thinks it has a good reason. “Everyone will be on data share,” [Verizon CFO Fran] Shammo said. All customers will be forced onto Verizon’s new shared data plans once their upgrade cycle comes around, which are in theory easier to manage for multi-device families. Except that doesn’t really pass the smell test.

The problem is that many people don’t want to share their plans with anyone else. Too bad, says Verizon. It appears that we’ll all forced into a shared (read: more expensive) plan whether we like or not.

The biggest problem of all? Verizon is taking away a product many customers paid for in good faith. “Verizon sold a product,” Wagner writes,“and through no fault of its customers — most of whom aren’t even abusing it — it is now calling takebacks.”

You can bet AT&T and others will follow suit soon enough. This might be a dream for the wireless carriers, but it’s a mobile nightmare for the rest of us.

Original photo by Flickr user Eschipul.