Verizon offering the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus for free to some customers

If you consider yourself to be a good Verizon customer, there’s a decent chance that you’re getting your due today. As noted by Droid Life, Verizon is sending out emails to some customers, offering incredibly steep discounts on some hot phones such as the Droid Razr and Galaxy Nexus.

The text in the email isn’t entirely clear as to what constitutes being eligible for the offer, but there are some clues:

“There’s never been a better time to move to 4G LTE – Upgrade to your FREE 4G LTE smartphone today!”

If history serves as a barometer for Verizon’s behavior here, this offer is being extended to people who fit one of two groups:

1. Those who presently don’t have a smartphone
2. Those who have a smartphone, but are on a 3G-only plan

The typical discount for a new 2-year contract sits at $50, plus whatever discount Verizon offers on the phone as a subsidy. For the three devices offered in the email, discounts are ranging between $99 and $299, depending on the model chosen. And big red isn’t slacking on the options either, with the previously-mentioned Nexus and Razr, as well as the Samsung Stratosphere. Sorry, battery fans, no Razr Maxx for this round.

It’s an interesting move from Verizon, and appears to be in hopes of boosting both smartphone and LTE use for the company. No surprise, really, as smartphone data packages hold the potential to cash in big money for carriers, but it’s still an aggressive play from the largest mobile carrier in the US.

I checked my own Verizon account, which has one of the phones eligible for a discount, but only the $50 renewal discount was applied. Unfortunately, that could be for any number of reasons, so it’s worth getting in touch with Verizon to see if you qualify for the bigger chunk of change.

Holding your cards close for the next generation of mobile phones? Keep up with all the news via TNW’s coverage of Mobile World Congress.