honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Verizon offers flat-fee unlimited wireless plan

By Leslie Cauley
USA Today

NEW YORK — Verizon Wireless today will unveil a plan that offers unlimited domestic calling for a flat fee of $99.99 to $139.99 a month.

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.

A handful of smaller carriers, including Leap Wireless, already offer unlimited-use plans. Big carriers have been loath to go down that path, however, mostly because the "bucket" business is so lucrative.

In Hawai'i, local mobile provider Mobi PCS sells an unlimited domestic calling plan starting at $46 a month and an unlimited plan for personal digital assistant devices for $80 a month.