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Pricing plans for simply everything

What’s with all the new pricing plans? Are carriers moving toward customization in lieu of simplicity?
The introduction of unlimited plans a few months ago seems to have sparked a rallying cry for even more options from wireless operators: This week alone — and it’s Tuesday — saw Verizon Wireless introduce new data and e-mail plans, as well as text-messaging-centric plans, and AT&T Mobility is offering a new plan aimed at small businesses.
I’m all for choices, and wireless subscribers definitely do not fall into a one-size-fits-all category, but (and you knew there would be a “but”) I wonder how easily it will be for customers to decide which service they should get. Just reading the press releases and stories on these plans makes my head spin. (Which to choose? Which to choose?)
I suspect the companies that provide comparison Web sites to help customers decide which provider and plan is right for them are the immediate winners here.
Verizon Wireless said its text-messaging plans are designed for the hard-of-hearing community. T-Mobile USA also offers such a plan. But one of these plans might also be tempting for families with text-crazy teens — except VZW’s plan geared for consumer devices ($35 a month) has a voice rate of 40 cents per minute. Would it be better to get the family plan with unlimited text for the family? Does in-network calling count toward minutes or only calls to people outside the network?
Sprint Nextel’s Simply Everything plan looks awesome at first glance — but again, it’s not designed for families. Ross Rubin of NPD Group wrote in a recent Analyst Angle for RCRWirelessNews.com that the unlimited calling plans are designed to keep younger, data-heavy users happy. “While only 40% of consumers using fewer 1,500 minutes or less per month had a data plan, 54% of those using 1,501 or more minutes per month had one. Holding on to these more profitable younger customers long enough to have them adopt emerging data services will ultimately help operators win the race to the future, instead of losing the race to the bottom,” Rubin noted.
And those younger, data-savvy users are the kind of people who probably enjoy trying to figure out which plan is right for them.

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