The Ceiling For Mobile Voice and Text Falling Towards $50 Per Month (original) (raw)
from the not-quite-free-yet dept
The cost of basic fixed-line voice telephony is quickly falling towards zero. Plenty of companies offer free voice calls (with various hoops to jump through), and the cost of VoIP service continues to drop. This is trickling over to mobile voice service, too, as three of the top four US operators now offer unlimited voice and text plans for about 100permonth.Buteventhatpriceceilingisunderpressure:CricketandMetroPCS,twosmalleroperatorsthatfocusonthelowendofthemarket(anddon’tofferthefootprintofbiggeroperators),havebeenofferingunlimitedplansforunder100 per month. But even that price ceiling is under pressure: Cricket and MetroPCS, two smaller operators that focus on the low end of the market (and don’t offer the footprint of bigger operators), have been offering unlimited plans for under 100permonth.Buteventhatpriceceilingisunderpressure:CricketandMetroPCS,twosmalleroperatorsthatfocusonthelowendofthemarket(anddon’tofferthefootprintofbiggeroperators),havebeenofferingunlimitedplansforunder50 per month, and today, Sprint’s Boost Mobile brand joined them. It’s unlikely that the major operators will enthusiastically fall into line, but in the current economic environment, it’s hard to imagine these cheaper unlimited offerings won’t pull some customers away and put pressure on the bigger operators’ prices. The bigger operators still have a number of competitive advantages, including bigger coverage areas and a wider choice of handsets, but they may find those appeal to fewer consumers if the price gap remains.