[horndoctor]

Unfortunately, if you are activating the phone on Verizon's network and they will only activate it on certain plans then you just have to take what you can get. Sucks in my opinion . If you tried to activate it yourself without going into a store and just happened to talk to a person that did not ask which phone it was then maybe you could just activate it on a call only plan but it's a long shot. You would have to buy a used phone or a new one directly from the manufacturer. I say just get a minimal data plan.