[Infowarrior] - VZ, AT&T Cut Price on Unlimited Plans

[Richard Forno]

(Yep, a new mobile "price war" started this week.  -rick)

Verizon and AT&T Cut Price on Unlimited Mobile-Calling Plans
January 15, 2010, 06:34 PM EST
By Amy Thomson
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-15/verizon-and-at-t-cut-price-on-unlimited-mobile-calling-plans.html

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. cut the price of  
calling plans with unlimited talk time as competition heats up between  
the two largest U.S. mobile-phone services.

Beginning Jan. 18, both companies will charge $69.99 a month for  
unlimited talk or $89.99 for a plan with unlimited calls and texts,  
the carriers said in separate statements today.

Verizon moved first to cut the prices earlier today, part of a plan to  
simplify pricing and encourage more customers to buy data plans that  
let smartphones access the Internet and download programs. The  
cheaper, unrestricted plans may persuade subscribers to upgrade, said  
Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Chicago.

“We could see a move upwards rather than downwards,” said Fritzsche,  
who recommends buying shares of AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc.  
“Any kind of voice pricing is very much a commodity. Data is the  
future.”

Verizon’s unlimited voice plan for individuals was $99.99, with  
unlimited text and video messages costing $119.99, according to the  
carrier’s Web site. AT&T is cutting the price of its unlimited voice  
plans from $99.99 a month, according to the Dallas-based company’s Web  
site.

Sprint sells a package of unlimited calls, data and messaging for  
$99.99. While the company didn’t announce a price change today, it  
said customers who buy unlimited messaging and data plans will save  
almost $240 a year over Verizon’s new offering.

Reviewing Prices

“We’re always looking at our pricing and evaluating whether changes  
are needed,” said Emmy Anderson, a spokeswoman for Overland Park,  
Kansas-based Sprint. “The plans that we offer right now, we really  
feel are giving customers the best value in wireless.”

Verizon subscribers with phones capable of downloading video and other  
multimedia content will be required to sign up for a $9.99-per-month  
data plan.

Verizon Communications, which co-owns Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based  
Verizon Wireless, declined 64 cents to $30.58 today in New York Stock  
Exchange composite trading. AT&T dropped 40 cents to $25.79, while  
Sprint rose 13 cents to $3.82.

Verizon Communications had revenue of $15.8 billion from its 89  
million mobile customers in the third quarter, a 24 percent increase  
from a year earlier. The wireless unit made up more than half of sales  
as land-line customers defected.

Much of the growth came from data plans, which customers use to access  
the Internet and download media. Customers’ average monthly bills fell  
2.2 percent to $51.04, even as payments for data services rose 17  
percent, Verizon said in its October report. The company will report  
fourth-quarter results on Jan. 26.