The new $100 unlimited wireless phone plan from att

With wireless phone competition at its strongest, att just took the lead with its newest $100 promotion.  The promotion asks for just $100 and you’ll be able to call domestically for unlimited minutes per month.  There is no roaming or out-of-area fees.  This is definitely are bargain for those chatter-boxes out there.  Keep in mind though this does not include data for blackberries, treos, and iPhones.  Data / e-mails / Internet plans are sold separately. 

Sprint has offered a $120/month plan that includes unlimited voice and data.  Cellular South  has been offering the same plan for $80.  Verizon has matched the same plan as ATT at $100/month.  Tmobile will be announcing a better unlimited plan soon also offering free text messaging and some data services.

This fierce competition is in the hopes to compete with voice over IP phone companies, such as Vonage and Comcast.  The wireless companies are hoping consumers will use their cell phones as their universal out-of-the-house and home phones.  We feel that the unlimited plans are good; however, they’ll need to kick in some data/e-mail services to make it even more appealing to the masses.  Most people who are talking a lot on their smartphones and handhelds also email a lot. 

This $100 rate is typically much more than people want to spend especially since the data service is typically $35 – 50/month.  Plus, many high-volume talkers don’t purchase many minutes since rollover minutes accumulate to the point where purchasing the higher plans are not necessary.  So, for these unlimited plans to do well, ATT, Verizon, Sprint, and Tmobile need to either decrease the $100 rate and/or kick in text messaging and data/email services for free.