Verizon Wireless today announced a plan that offers unlimited domestic calling for a flat fee of $99.99 to $139.99 a month.
The new “Nationwide Unlimited Anytime Minutes Plan” could change the cellular game of selling “buckets” of minutes for a set monthly price, says USA Today. Verizon, which claims 66 million customers, now offers a bucket of 2,000 minutes for $99 a month.
Jack Plating, chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless, says his company isn’t abandoning the bucket — but it is targeting “high value” customers who pay at least $100 a month for wireless services.
UPDATE: Hold the phone…AT&T just announced their own unlimited voice plan. The plans will be available to new and existing wireless subscribers for $99.99 a month for unlimited U.S. calling on all devices with no domestic roaming or long distance charges. The plans can be combined with any current wireless data plan to give customers the ultimate in wireless freedom.
The new plans, available Feb. 22, can be ordered at one of AT&T’s 2,200 company-owned retail stores and kiosks. Existing customers can choose unlimited calling without extending their contract. New customers have the option of a month-to-month, 12 or 24 month contract.
FURTHER UPDATE: T-Mobile USA has now piled on. Their unlimited text messaging and voice call plans are also $99.99 a month and start on Thursday, February 21. The company’s current offerings include unlimited text messaging for $14.99 and 5,000 minutes of calls for $129.99, according to spokesman Peter Dobrow. T-Mobile, the fourth biggest U.S. mobile service, unveiled their plan just hours after AT&T and Verizon Wireless announced their $99.99 unlimited voice plans.
And what of Sprint? In October, Sprint announced expanded availability of Unlimited by Boost - the regional flat rate wireless service offered by its Boost Mobile division - to 10 additional U.S. states, after its launch in California and Texas. Unlimited by Boost offers unlimited local and nationwide long distance calling from a home calling area for a fixed monthly price, which ranges from $45 to $55 depending on location. Customers making or receiving calls outside of their home calling area are charged 15 cents per minute.
Sprint has yet to respond, but analysts say it could be considering an unlimited calling plan for as low as $60 a month, hurtling the industry into a price war, reports C/Net.
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