Sprint's unlimited talk—and data—is cheaper

Talkative cell phone users got a buzz last month when major carriers, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile began offering $99.99 unlimited calling plans. Now Sprint has also announced its own unlimited plans.

Like its competition, Sprint's "Simply Everything" plan offers unlimited voice calling, free nationwide long distance, and no domestic roaming charges. But for the same $99.99 per month, subscribers also get unlimited text/picture/video messaging, mobile Internet, and walkie-talkie style push-to-talk service.

That's a better deal than, for example, Verizon's Unlimited plans, which charge $99.99 for voice, $119.99 for voice and messaging, and $139.99 for voice, messaging, and mobile Internet.

However, as we previously advised, before getting a pricey unlimited plan you should first consider less costly somewhat unlimited plans.

In the case of Sprint, its new "Everything 900" anytime voice minute plan also comes with unlimited messaging and Internet (as well as unlimited voice nights and weekends and mobile-to-mobile) for only $89.99 per month. If you can live with 900 daytime voice minutes per month—still a hefty 40 minutes or so per weekday, after all—you'll save $120 annually over the $99.99 "Simply Everything" plan or up to $600 per year over competing carrier unlimited plans.

One big caveat about Sprint, should you be considering a switch to it: Sprint has consistently rated among the worst in overall satisfaction, customer service, and dropped calls among Consumer Reports readers in 20 metropolitan areas. So you may sacrifice quality to get Sprint's lower prices.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Follow these tips to find the lowest price deal to match your needs:

• If you want rock bottom price primarily for unlimited messaging and mobile Internet, plus some allotment of voice minutes per month, look first to Sprint's "Everything 450" ($69.99) or "Everything 900" ($89.99) plans.


• If you want the best price primarily for unlimited messaging, plus some allotment of monthly voice minutes, check out T-Mobile's "My Faves" 300, 600, or 1000 voice with the unlimited domestic messaging add-on ($54.98, $64.98, and$74.98), Sprint's "Everything 450" ($69.99), and Verizon's "National Select 900" ($79.99) plans.


• If you primarily want better service and lower price, consider the somewhat unlimited 900- or 1,000-minute anytime voice plans from Alltel, Verizon, and T-Mobile ($59.99 each) before you buy a totally unlimited plan. But you will have to exert some call planning effort each month to make sure you keep total daytime calls (outside the Verizon and Alltel networks or your "My Circle" and "myFaves" designated numbers lists) within your monthly minute allocation. See if you can add mobile internet or text messaging for cheaper  à la carte, before jumping to an unlimited plan.


• If you don't want to worry about staying within any monthly limits, look first to Sprint's "Simply Everything" plan ($99.99), because you also get unlimited messaging and Internet at no extra cost, or Verizon's and T-Mobile's unlimited plans ($99.99 each) if better service and overall satisfaction are important to you.

—Jeff Blyskal

—Paul Eng