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AT&T debuts unlimited talk and text for $60 per month
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AT&T Mobility just threw its hat into the prepaid, unlimited ring. The company announced a $60 per month unlimited prepaid voice and text package through its GoPhone prepaid service. The plan, which will debut Monday, offers unlimited nationwide calling and unlimited texting, IM picture and video messaging to anyone in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and more than 100 other countries.
AT&T's new plan appears to be a response to the rising popularity of unlimited prepaid players such as Sprint Nextel's Boost Mobile unit, MetroPCS and Leap Wireless. However, most rival unlimited prepaid plans cost $50 per month or less, so it will be interesting to see if AT&T's GoPhone plan will gain traction at the higher price point.
Boost Mobile, which offers a $50 per month plan for unlimited voice, text and mobile Internet access, has helped mitigate some of Sprint's postpaid customer losses and improve the company's revenues. In second quarter, Sprint said that growth from Boost Monthly Unlimited subscribers helped offset the company's revenue declines from postpaid subscribers.
"The GoPhone rate plan is priced above the existing unlimited players, but it is a product that will be marketed throughout AT&T's large distribution channels," wrote Pali analyst Walter Piecyk in a detailed research note. "Currently, Leap Wireless' Cricket, MetroPCS, and Boost all offer unlimited plans ranging from $45-$50, but these plans also include unlimited web, which is a feature that could cost an additional $20/100MB based on current GoPhone pick your plan pricing. Boost, which is Sprint's prepaid product, is the only one of these competitors that has a distribution channel that comes close to that of AT&T."
Shares of Leap, MetroPCS and Sprint all declined following the news.
For more:
- see this Barron's post
- see this Pali post
- see this release
Related Articles:
Sprint losses widen in Q2, but subscriber losses slow
AT&T unveils $3 per day unlimited GoPhone calling plan
T-Mobile's $50 unlimited voice plan goes nationwide
Sprint losses grow but subscriber exodus slows
Article updated Oct. 9 to include additional information
Comments
Posted by StraightTalkMe | October 9, 2009 - 1:16pm
According to the website, there's a $3 daily fee, so it's not such a great deal.
Posted by Chris | October 9, 2009 - 1:57pm
StraightTalkMe : They didnt update the web site yet, it still has the old deals from before this new $60 a month one.
Posted by www.goodscool.com | October 11, 2009 - 4:37am
http://www.goodscool.com/
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Posted by Anonymous | October 13, 2009 - 1:25pm
I am very happy with TracFone's Straight Talk service. I am curious as to how the coverage compares. Does the GoPhone have the same level of coverage that post paid has? My only complaint with Straight Talk is no call forwarding or three way calling. Other than that it is excellent. I would only switch to the GoPhone if the coverage is significantly better.
Posted by Anonymous | October 13, 2009 - 1:34pm
Coverage is significantly worse than Straight Talk and Net10. AT&T will not be stealing me away anytime soon.
Posted by Anonymous | November 20, 2009 - 8:12pm
ATT Coverage is much better than all the other companies besides verizon...the prepay service and post-paid service is all the same...they still run off of all the same towers as regular att customers do..I have fantastic service with att!
Posted by alex | November 28, 2009 - 12:04am
here is the ultimate way to get the biggest bang for ur buck. buy the cheapest gophone u can get on the 25 cent a minute plan just for the sim card which is compatible with 95% of all of atts phones and then buy a better phone that takes sim cards (excluding the i phone)get it from ebay btw and then get the $60 monthly unlimited talk and text and bam there ya go u have the newest and hottest cell but u pay way less if someone on a contract would pay for the same exact thing
Posted by Anonymous | January 19, 2010 - 9:36am
ok let me see if I got this right. you can buy a cheap pay as go phone plan for the sim card then get the att $60 plan and use the sim card in it? for the cheapest way to go.
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