Are Unlimited Calling Plans a Bargain or an Up-Sell?

Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:13PM EST

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I love it when big companies vie for first place. You know who the winner is, don't you? That would be us.

The latest buzzword in mobile phone-speak is unlimited calling. The first salvo came from Verizon Wireless earlier in the week. It introduced an unlimited calling plan for $99.99 a month. On the plan, you get unlimited minutes, no domestic roaming or long distance charges, and mobile Web 2.0. (This doesn't include surcharges, taxes, and fees or activation fees.)

Within hours, AT&T Mobility offered its version of the $99 unlimited plan. For the moment, Sprint's unlimited plan remains at $119.99 a month, but it includes unlimited web use, email, and messaging. The company has not announced a price, cut but the week's still young. Engadget is already hot on the rumor trail about a $60 a month unlimited calling option from Sprint.

And T-Mobile USA also announced its price-cutting week, too. For $99, it offers unlimited nationwide calling, but ups the ante by adding unlimited messaging, including text messages (SMS), picture messages (MMS), and instant messages (IM).

Is $99 for unlimited calling right for you? Possibly not. The carriers can substantially increase their revenue by upselling you to a more expensive plan than you need in the name of "unlimited." You know the sales speak: "For just a few dollars more a month than you're already spending you can have unlimited use."

BusinessWeek quoted a communications and media consultancy practice, that reported only 5 percent to 15 percent of the combined customer base of the three of the four largest U.S. cell-phone service providers would probably save by converting to the all-you-can-talk calling plans.

If you're in the 5 percent to 15 percent, then hooray for you! If you're not, you might be spending more than you need to spend. Before you sign on the dotted line, do an inventory of a few months of bills. My hunch is that most of the people who will benefit from the new $99 unlimited game are those who are either always over their minute limits or already pay $99 for a fixed number of minutes. In other words, heavy volume callers.

If you're paying $39 a month and stay within your minutes, there's not a lot of reason for the "unlimited" word to lure you.

 

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  • 66 Posted by ibmsit on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    Metropcs has the best unlimited plans and if you are roaming in a Metropcs market your service is unlimited in those areas too!Northern/Southern California, North, Central and South FL and Orlando, Las Vegas, Georgia, Michigan, Texas. And for $100 a month you can get a family plan of 4 lines with unlimited calling. that is 4 lines for what the big guys want for one line

  • 67 Posted by queenzaphryn on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:24PM EDT Report Abuse

    This Article doesn't mention Sprint at all. They offer Unlimited talk, Text, Data, Navagation, Email, etc for $99.99 a month. If you even have a $39.99 plan, If you were to add up all the add-ons this offers, It could be well over $100 bucks. If your plan is higher, forget about it. Sprint offers the only unlimited everything plan for only $99.99. That's a real savings, whether you talk a lot, text a lot, surf the internet a lot, or do everything a lot.

  • 68 Posted by chefloveus on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    here in New Mexico I only pay 54.00 (+/- 20.00late charges if any) with Cricket cellular. All I had to do was buy the phone and a activation charge later I was talking away with no contract no obligation to upgrade or pushy sales calls. Only down side I see though is if you want a new phone you have to buy it but, you can keep your same number from the old to new.

  • 69 Posted by dhwanimathur on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    Some smaller, landline replacement type of wireless carriers already offer unlimited plans which are way cheaper. Carriers like cricket communications offer unlimited plans which are around $30-$50 a month. Their unlimited talk plans are even cheaper. If these carriers are in your area, alongwith a bluetooth adapter for home phones, you can replace your landline and route your calls through your wireless carrier. As economy gets worse, i think people will start looking at such options.

  • 70 Posted by jddiazunitedsprint on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    The info you have about the unlimited plans is incorrect. verizon and at&t have unlimited calling for 89.99. Sprints unlimited plan at 99.99 includes unlimited minutes, messaging, internet use which includes sprint tv, aprint music store, and sprint navigation. Verizon and AT&T you can add these on for 140.00 JD

  • 71 Posted by cj.wylie on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:26PM EDT Report Abuse

    "Don't use SPRINT". I have had them for almost 2 years an have had nothing but crap, will not repair (unless I pay them more money, "NOT") a phone that has not worked correctly from the get go, Plus every SPRINT customer is paying a TAX the is a company tax, that is due said company until "2009" and SPRINT passes that tax on to their consumer. Plus AGAIN, Sprint will SELL your phone number (that you have paid for) to marketing groups that will call and solisiate marketing products. Don't we get enough unwanted calls from people like this on land lines? "AGAIN I SAY, DON'T USE SPRINT"

  • 72 Posted by shasha5456 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:17PM EDT Report Abuse

    I got boost ulimited and i can talk any where i want all day and all night and text message and picture mail all for $60.00 amonth i'm happy. So it's worth it to me.

  • 73 Posted by mitzibeaver on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:22PM EDT Report Abuse

    i am on and talk as long as i want with out charges with this cricket at 49.95 plus tx 53 2 3mth sure it get knocked out in elevators , stairways for the price i do'nt need a phone , kd pgh pa.

  • 75 Posted by pwootx on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    The best unlimited is Boost mobile. Unlimited everything for $50 a month

  • 76 Posted by shasha5456 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:17PM EDT Report Abuse

    I got boost unlimited and i'm happy talk,text for less than $60.00 a month. Got it at 1401-19th street lubbock,tx, on the corner of 19th and ave M try it no contract to sign.

  • 77 Posted by jaylroberts on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have a new carrier called Metro PCS and its service is good but some areas I go to it doesnt cover but Ive lived with it,I will not go back to AT&T or Verizon,AT&T bought Cingular and changed my plan some how and started charging more and argued I couldnt have role over anymore

  • 78 Posted by jmwillardson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:37PM EDT Report Abuse

    If you haven't checked out Cricket Wireless you need to. The company is making big moves and beats all the competition including Metro PCS.

  • 79 Posted by tiffelau168 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    i laugh in AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile AND Sprint's face. I'm on MetroPCS and I have unlimited talk, text and picture, IM, and web for 50$ flat (plan is 40$ a month w/ taxes and surcharges). hahahha!

  • 80 Posted by ahmari35 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    Sprints Unlimited plan is $99 because I'm on it. The Blackberry service is $109 because of the cost that Blackberry charges the customers. Sprint eats $30 of that for its customers. Plus with the unlimited plan, you get EVERYTHING for free, not just minutes. Mine comes with Sprint Navigation, Internet, email, video and picture mail, text messaging, and I can listen to Sprint radio and TV with that. Its the best unlimited plan out there.

  • 81 Posted by p_rutan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    for one i have sprint unlimit4d calling i dont pay 119 i pay 99 and i get al lthe extras too. seem to me the writer of this article needs to check his fact out better. i have had a better time with sprint thne all the other compaines. i have tried verizon and cingular neiother o f them give me the service that sprint has . as long as sprint keeps doing the things it does now i wil lalways be a sprint custermer. as far as the rating are concerned it shows me that ratings mean nothing

  • 82 Posted by melissaframey on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'v been with cingular for 6 years and everythings been fine, no problems ,yet with rollover minutes i'v never gone over so $35 monthly works for me.

  • 83 Posted by m_bantea on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    I get unlimited everything for $50/month;no surprizes;METRO PCS.VERIZON was my worst experience.

  • 84 Posted by e3ddie on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    suncom has a 69.99 a month unlimited plan that works for me. Includes minutes, text, internet, and email.

  • 85 Posted by stellardyne on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    Well, the article doesn't really know what its talking about on several levels. As Stefano said, Sprint's unlimited voice and data plan is $99, not $119. Also, is $99 for unlimited right for you? The article says "probably not" but I say "probably" if you are a single person and you have your cell phone and a home phone. Couple the charges of your cell phone with your home phone/land line service and you are probably paying around $100 anyway. Not to mention that Sprint's data service is about as fast as most basic cable/dsl services. So going with a plan like this allows you to consolidate all those things (use your cell phone as a high speed modem) into one plan. Heck, you might even save money! And no...I don't work for a cell provider...I'm a graduate student in a psychology program that works part time as a network engineer.

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