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Unlimited Wireless Plans Coming

Posted by kdawson on from the talk-much-surf-often-text-lots dept.

An anonymous reader tells us about a BusinessWeek story claiming that in a few years most wireless plans will be unlimited. And pretty costly: unlimited cell calling, SMS, and data for on the order of $115 - $150 a month. Sprint is conducting a trial of such an offering in San Francisco, with the intent of rolling it out nationwide, and other carriers are said to be sure to follow suit. An interesting claim in the article is that in 5 years time, 40% of the US population will be untethered from landlines and using their cell numbers exclusively (vs. 15% now).

9 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Yawn... by sugapablo · · Score: 4, Informative

    I already get unlimited wireless in Pittsburgh for $44/month from Cricket.

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    Sugapablo
    1. Re:Yawn... by kaeru · · Score: 2, Informative

      Here in Malaysia we have both EDGE and 3G unlimited data plans from around USD35/month from 3 different providers.

      Wouldn't be surprised if other providers around the world have more competitive rates.

      This is hardly news.

    2. Re:Yawn... by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've seen this and the MetroPCS service, and the one thing I've noticed about both is the limited coverage area. They only seem to have service in the big cities, and nothing even just outside. For example, here's MetroPCS' coverage for Detroit. Look in the northwest part of the coverage area and note that if you go out to Howell, you're covered, but not in Pinckney, which is just as populated as Howell. Now compare the coverage map for Sprint. Notice that just about the entire freakin' state of Michigan is covered. The MetroPCS map looks like Sprint's coverage map ca. 1992. Ditto for Cricket in its coverage areas.

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    3. Re:Yawn... by WgT2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Cool. I just heard that MetroPCS has all the mentioned features for a flat $60/month. And from the looks of plans page, that includes taxes.

  2. Unlimited wireless in Finland, starting from 57e by Iloinen+Lohikrme · · Score: 3, Informative

    How can they charge so much? In Finland, you can in example get 3G phone packet from Saunalahti that includes a 3G phone, 3000min/month to all GSM and wired phones, videophone-calls for 3000min/month, 3000 sms/month, 3000mms/month and 3G-, EDGE- and GRPS data connection with max 384 kbit/s speed and that only costs 57,95euros which already includes sales tax. To me paying 57euros from that packet is little bit expensive, I would definitely get it if it would cost 30 to 40 euros... charging 115 to 150 dollars from basically the same deal that Saunalahti offers is just crazy, I wouldn't accept it.

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  3. Re:and how many people will wreck their finances t by Corporate+Troll · · Score: 4, Informative

    At least link to the Userfriendly comic strip, will ya?

  4. Re:Ok, but what about... by TimHunter · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have a AT&T (nee Cingular) GoPhone that has exactly this plan. Pay 'em $100 up front. Minutes cost $0.25 per. At the end of 12 months they keep any of the $100 that you haven't used.

    Since I would only use the phone for emergencies there's no way I'll use 400 minutes in a year (I've had the phone 3 months and haven't used ANY minutes yet) what I'm doing is paying AT&T $100 for 12 months of cell phone service. That's $8.33/month. You do have to buy a phone. Mine cost $30.00.

  5. Re:the 2003 power outage by Svartalf · · Score: 2, Informative

    The only reason the landlines still worked had to do with what they did to get the reliability.

    They've got huge banks of 48 volt lead-acid or better batteries that hold 48-72 hours of juice
    minimum for the entire system at "normal" usage levels. If the mobile phone towers had that
    level of backup, the mobiles probably would have worked as well.

    --
    I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
  6. Re:Ok, but what about... Emergencies by Insightfill · · Score: 4, Informative
    "All my mother-in-law wants is a phone that can be loaded with 100 minutes for emergencies to call a tow truck or her husband and she wants those minutes to never expire."

    For true emergencies, any working cell phone can still make 911 calls (or cellular version thereof *999 - whatever). That's free - no carrier, no bills. In many areas, the local police or cell phone stores will take donated old cell phones to give to local women's shelters and to shut-ins for just this purpose.

    Look around the house, find a phone from a provider you no longer use or whatever, and charge it up and give it to her. The biggest hassle is usually the battery - those lithium batteries have a 'shelf-life' of about three years before they can hold no charge at all. They hold their existing charge quite nicely on the shelf, but their capacity is what goes down.