Verizon, AT&T offer flat-fee unlimited wireless plans
NEW YORK -- Verizon Wireless vz introduced an unlimited domestic calling for a flat fee of $99.99 to $139.99 a month, an offer that was quickly matched by AT&T Mobility t.
Verizon's unlimited plans for BlackBerry devices and other smartphones will start at $129.99 a month. The pricier plans offer extra features, such as unlimited messaging, global e-mail and video.
The new "Nationwide Unlimited Anytime Minutes Plan" could rewrite the competitive rules of the wireless industry, which has long embraced the idea of selling "buckets" of minutes for a set monthly price. 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.
"We are going after high-end customers," he says.
Plating says he doesn't expect a price war, but he also makes it clear that Verizon stands ready to answer its rivals. "Anybody can match a price; nobody can match us on the value and quality of what our network is offering."
A handful of smaller carriers, including Leap Wireless leap, already offer unlimited-usage plans. Big carriers have been loath to go down that path, however, mostly because the "bucket" business is so lucrative.
Each month, millions of wireless consumers exceed their allotment of minutes, triggering charges of 25 cents to 55 cents a minute. These "overage" charges currently account for about 15% of the wireless industry's annual revenue, says Roger Entner of IAG Research.
Sprint's new CEO, Dan Hesse, recently told USA TODAY that he is considering an unlimited flat-rate plan. Such a plan could put pressure on Verizon to cut its unlimited prices even more. Sprint s has about 54 million customers.
In May, Sprint introduced one to residents of Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Tampa, and parts of Northern California and Western Nevada. Sprint's plan costs $119.99 a month, and includes unlimited Web use, e-mail and messaging, which Verizon Wireless' and AT&T's plans do not.
AT&T, the USA's largest wireless carrier, with more than 70 million customers, has also shown a willingness to take risks to increase market share: It partnered with Apple appl on the launch of the popular iPhone to draw customers. (AT&T is the exclusive U.S. distributor for the next five years.) AT&T t also pioneered the idea of "rollover minutes," which allows customers to carry over unused minutes from month to month.
Verizon also is revising pricing on mobile broadband access on March 2. The plans — which let laptop owners surf the Web and check e-mail from the road — will offer monthly "buckets": $39.99 for 50 megabytes for lighter users and $59.99 for 5 gigabytes.
Plating says it could take time for consumers to get used to buying data plans by the "megabyte." "This is a one-two punch as we look to the future," he says.