Sprint Nextel cuts price of unlimited text messages, offers family plan option

Sprint Nextel Corp. is undercutting other carriers’ pricing for unlimited text messaging with a package that costs $10 for individual lines and $20 for family plans.
Comparatively, Verizon Wireless offers 500 messages plus unlimited in-network messaging for $10, and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. prices 400 messages plus 1 MB of data use at $10. Neither carrier offers an unlimited text messaging plan, according to their Web sites, and neither offers families the chance to share text messaging bundles as they do minutes.
T-Mobile USA Inc. had been the only national carrier with an unlimited messaging plan, which it offered as a family messaging plan for up to five lines for $20 per month. With its new plan, Sprint Nextel is meeting that price. However, T-Mobile USA’s plan includes multimedia messaging, while Sprint Nextel’s new offer only covers text messages.
Sprint Nextel requires that customers be on family plans of at least $70 per month to take advantage of the text messaging plans.
Cingular, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless have all recently announced plans to increase the price of a la carte text messaging from 10 cents apiece to 15 cents per message.