Big 2 continue price plan tweaks: AT&T Mobility goes after small biz, VZW after texters

The wireless industry’s two heavyweights continued to tweak their service plans with both AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless offering up new packages targeted at different demographics.
AT&T Mobility unveiled a new FamilyTalk derivative that targets small businesses, allowing up to 40 users to share 20,000 monthly anytime calling minutes on a single plan. For those businesses with fewer mouths to feed, the new offerings begin at $60 per month and allow five users to share 700 anytime minutes.
The carrier claims the new offerings can save companies up to 20% on their monthly wireless bills compared to the carrier’s standard voice pool plans.
Over at Verizon Wireless, the industry’s No. 2 carriers have given texters a reason to rejoice.
The carrier unveiled a new text-only service plan that does away with that pesky voice component and allows users to communicate the way we all really want: using our thumbs.
The carrier’s new Nationwide Messaging plans include unlimited picture, text, instant and video messaging as well as other data features and a per-minute fee for those that might still need to make a voice call. For consumer devices, the plan runs $35 per month and the data features include mobile Web access and the voice rate is 40 cents per minute; for Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry devices and other PDAs or smartphones the service runs $55 per month and includes unlimited e-mail and Web browsing as well as voice calls charged at 25 cents per minute. Verizon Wireless noted that customers can also add its Mobile Email service the consumer plan for $5 per month.
The new rate plans are available with new one- or two-year contracts. The plans seem to be a good match to the carrier’s recently launched flat-rate, unlimited calling plan that does not offer a pricing break for multiple lines. Parents who decide to move to the unlimited plans can now add the text only option for children that as we all know have evolved past using their voice to communicate.
Verizon Wireless also announced yesterday new unlimited data plans for smartphone customers.
T-Mobile USA Inc. offers a similar service for its exclusive Sidekick devices that provides unlimited messaging and Web browsing for $30 per month and voice calls are charged at 20 cents per minute; or a $40 per month plan that includes only Web browsing for its smartphones with voice calls charged at 20 cents per minute.
Sprint Nextel Corp. also offers a “Phone As Modem” plan for $40 per month that provides users with unlimited Web browsing or the ability to tether their smartphone to a laptop to use as a wireless modem.