Industry coverage, news, original feature articles, how to guides, videos, podcasts and reviews of BlackBerry service providers, software, accessories, hosted exchange providers and more

If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to my feed or subscribe to us on Twitter!

Surely you’re familiar with the recent unlimited plans rolled out by the four major U.S. cell carriers. Verizon and AT&T have basic, $99 unlimited calling plans. T-Mobile adds unlimited text messaging to the same price. Late last week, Sprint announced their version of the $99 plan, which includes voice, text, and data. This includes BIS service, though excludes BES packages, which cost an extra $20 per month. This announcement by Sprint could change the game, though. What if every carrier offered unlimited BIS, voice, and SMS for $99 per month? We’d see a lot more BlackBerry subscribers, right?

Absolutely. The non-inclusion of BES doesn’t mean much to this proposition. Businesses will continue to pick up BlackBerries for their workforce and provide Exchange service. However, the real growth can come from personal BlackBerry users who previously found data plans too expensive.

Of course, this won’t happen until all the carriers assimilate to a Sprint-style plan. A $99/month voice fee plus $30 for data will still be too much for some users. But $99 for everything is bit more palatable.

Carriers saw a decline in voice revenue in 2007, which likely spurred this unlimited plan rollout. However, they’re continuing to see rises in data rates. This explains why the big carriers are trying to separate the two. They’re trying to increase voice revenue by offering unlimited calling at a high price point. At the same time, they’re not tinkering with their data plans, as they’ve seen aggressive growth from them.

But perhaps Sprint has the right idea here. By combining voice and data, you create a new entity. No longer are you worried about declining voice. With voice and data packaged together, you can just worry about one number, and making sure that number grows.

The next couple of months will be interesting, as we’ll see how consumers respond to these unlimited offerings, particularly Sprint’s with the unlimited BIS.

[TheStreet.com]

 Subscribe to the BBGeeks RSS Feed
Share on Facebook | Add to De.licio.us | Digg This! | Technorati