LOS ANGELES-Econ One’s most recent survey of wireless service prices in 25 major markets found consumer cost remained the same between February and March.
The survey, which measures monthly wireless phone service prices across 30-, 150-, 300- and 600-minute plans, showed the average price of service was $41.56 per month.
Washington, D.C., saw the largest increase of the cities surveyed, with prices jumping 6.1 percent to $41.73 during March. Boston also saw a substantial increase, with average prices up 4.4 percent to $40.11 per month.
“The average rose in Washington, apparently because of a jump in Cellular One’s prices, as well as a smaller increase by Sprint PCS,” explained Charles Mahla, senior economist for Econ One.
New York saw its wireless prices drop 5 percent from the previous month to $41.41, which Econ One attributed to a large drop in Bell Atlantic’s prices. The Big Apple was followed by Dallas, which saw a 2.4-percent decrease to $43.85.
San Francisco remained the most expensive city in the survey for the second straight month, as the average price increased 0.9 percent to $46.27. Los Angeles remained the second most expensive city surveyed at $44.83 per month, a 1.7-percent decrease from February.
The least expensive for the second month in a row, with an increase of 1.6 percent in average prices, was Sacramento, Calif., at $37.35, followed by Phoenix at $37.55, a decrease of 0.7 percent.
