Verizon, AT&T announce unlimited calling plans

Verizon Wireless today anounced an unlimited flat rate voice plan, which was followed only hours later by AT&T unveiling a similar plan.

Verizon's Plan costs $99 per month for unlimited calling to anyone in the US, with no long distance or roaming charges, plus an additional $1.99 per MB HTML browsing charge, for all tiers of the plan except the top tier.

AT&T's plan will begin on February 22, costing $99.99 per month, offering a similar unlimited US call map with no roaming or long distance.

Even Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile has gotten into the act, premiering a plan that includes unlimited nationwide wireless calling and unlimited nationwide messaging for $99.99 per month. Its unlimited messaging includes text, picture and IM.

Sprint, the first to roll out such a plan, is the last to actually establish it. The company had been gradually rolling out its unlimited plan for $119 per month covering voice, text, and data, but has only made it to a few markets in the United States thus far.

The "flattening" of voice plans by effectively half of the domestic mobile phone business shows that voice calling has reached maturity, and is an expected service. Now, the strength and speed of a network's data coverage is becoming the deciding factor when choosing between telecom companies.