Yahoo! Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News: "Mobile phone companies have been lauded for slashing the cost of unlimited voice plans, but many wireless customers' monthly bills are actually going to get a bit more expensive.Last month, both Verizon and AT&T lowered their unlimited voice plans by $30 to $70 per month. Sprint recently unveiled a plan that allows unlimited calls to any mobile device for $60 per month. That brought the three biggest mobile carriers' prices closer to rival T-Mobile, which offers a $60 per month unlimited plan, and in line with a slew of low-cost carriers that offer similar plans for about $40 per month.
But as the wireless giants go around touting their lower voice prices, data plan costs have been quietly moving higher for some non-smartphone customers.
It began with Verizon Wireless. Last month, that company began requiring certain non-smartphone customers to subscribe to a data plan that costs at least $10 per month. Mobile experts believe Verizon's move marks the first step in a larger trend to make up for carriers' lost revenue from voice.
'There's a big shift going on among mobile companies, in which there is a price reduction on voice and an increased emphasis on selling and requiring data services,' said Dan Hays, partner at PRTM. 'It is like a dirty little secret.'"
1 comment:
Truth is, I saw the headlines but they didn't even tempt me. Why? 'Cause even at $70 for unlimited voice (with Vzn) it would still be too expensive. Why would I sign up for that if right now, using Verizon's network, I get unlimited talk, texts and data for only $45? Straight Talk prepaid gives me exactly that and doesn't require a two-year contract. Oh yeah, they also throw in free 411 calls while as far as I know Verizon charges something like $2 per call. Crazy!
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