• MSNBC, Wednesday, February 20, 2008 12:45 PM

Shortly after Verizon Wireless introduced an unlimited calling plan for $99.99 a month yesterday, AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA responded with similar pricing. The impact could be as great as when Sprint introduced flat-rate long-distance price for landline phones in the 1990s, says Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett. Sprint's move made it easier to compare plans and hastened a rapid decline in prices.

A small number of cell-phone power users are expected to benefit from the new plans, but investors see little chance for the carriers to recoup revenue by up-selling customers who pay less.

Unlike the Verizon Wireless and AT&T plans, T-Mobile's includes unlimited text and picture messaging, which costs $14.99 per month when added to other T-Mobile plans.

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