Major wireless carriers unveil $99.99 unlimited calling plans - except Sprint
Posted by: in Products and ServicesFiled under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Marketing and advertising, AT and T (T), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Verizon Communications (VZ)
Tom Taulli wrote Tuesday about Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s unlimited wireless calling plan, and competitors AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) and T-Mobile (part of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom) followed suit with unlimited wireless calling plans for U.S. customers. This is a first in the wireless industry for the major carriers, but it’s a welcome one for many consumers. Both AT&T and T-Mobile will offer unlimited calling starting by the end of this week — T-Mobile starting today and AT&T starting tomorrow.
Where is Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), you may ask? The carrier also announced unlimited calling plans two weeks ago, but just in a few choose markets — and starting at $119.99 per month. Even though the unlimited calling plans vary from carrier to carrier, generally, there is a $99.99 per month price of admission with all of them. T-Mobile offers the ideal value, with all call minutes and unlimited text messages included. Why did all the carriers — except Sprint — unveil unlimited calling within just a few days of each other?
Something has to keep growth churning along in the wireless industry. With 85% of Americans now owning a cellphone, wireless is heading for commodity status (it may already be there), where price wars will start erupting and “me too” marketing campaigns following shortly thereafter. The Computer industry knows all about this. But price wars only help the consumer — not the wireless carrier. Yes, many of us heavy wireless users might soon have lower bills, but the carriers may have lower bottom lines as well. What wireless company stocks do you have in your portfolio? Will this cause more customers to abandon landline telephones and switch to unlimited-minutes wireless only, pumping in growth into the wireless sector for the time being? Food for thought.
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