I remember a time when everyone was always worried about their cellphone minutes. In fact, I can recall waiting until after 9pm (or Saturday) to make phone calls to some people because my carrier had finally started offering “Free nights and weekends!”
What I can’t remember, however, is the the last time I thought about any of that. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I heard anyone say anything about going over on their minutes.
Why is this? After some thought, I have narrowed it down to two possibilities:
1) My friends and I have gotten to a place in life where we don’t talk on the phone very much or
2) Cell phone plans already supply plenty of minutes and they might as well just be called “unlimited”
This morning, AT&T announced a $99.99 unlimited calling plan just hours after Verizon announced something similar. The day that I used to think couldn’t come soon enough is finally here. However, I don’t give two craps about it at all.
Do you?
[ Update: ] T-Mobile joined the club as well
February 19th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Nope. I rarely ever get close to using all my minutes. Plus I get rollover minutes which, at this point, are sky high. I’m good to go.
February 19th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
This is good though. This is where the carriers need to be heading. I heard Jarsh one time make a good point about how ISP’s used to charge you by the minute. Now being charged to use the internet by the minute sounds totally ridiculous. I think wireless providers should follow a similar model. Let us pay you a flat rate to use the service and don’t charge by usage. Now with that said, a per boobie pricing structure may be necessary for “heavy downloaders”
February 20th, 2008 at 7:13 am
I think with the advent of texting, the number of minutes has subsided greatly. Coincidentally, the price of texting has increased. And if you want a blast from the past, internet providers are starting to toy with the idea of charging per minute, again. How lovely is that?
February 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Commencing closing of bold…now </b>. You are all safe now. You’re welcome.