I'm not sure what you mean by "I don't get to choose if I need one". Both Android and iOS natively support VPNs, and most corporate phones are set up to connect to the corporate network securely via VPN - on many US carriers.
I think chisleu meant that they consider Verizon to be so untrustworthy that not getting a VPN is really not a viable choice to make. So chisleu doesn't get to choose whether to use a VPN or not.
Oh, I think I understand now. "I have to use one on my phone"