MetroPCS and Sprint have some new competition in the unlimited prepaid market, and it's a familiar foe. Verizon (News 
- Alert) Wireless will debut a $50 unlimited talk, text and Web plan on Thursday that may steal market share away from rival carriers that specialize in all-you-can eat, month-to-month plans.
Verizon has historically shied away from prepaid plans, and currently offers only a few options, none of which are unlimited talk, text and Web. Instead, the nation's top carrier has focused on more lucrative contract plans, which allow users to purchase phones at significantly subsidized prices if they agree to a two-year commitment. This model considerably limits any potential spikes in customer churn rates.
However, the introduction of more feature-rich mid-market phones – and the struggling economy – has made prepaid plans more popular, giving Verizon enough incentive to jump in the market. The carrier has been testing the $50 plan in trial markets for some time to make sure that it is financially viable and that it won't cannibalize Verizon's contract offerings. Apparently, the tests can back clean.
"This is a very competitive market, and we want to make sure we have a price portfolio to fit a greater number of customers," Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney told the Wall Street Journal. "In these times, there are some people who would prefer living on a prepaid plan."
Before you get too excited though, the new unlimited prepaid plan won't be made available to iPhone (News - Alert) and Blackberry owners, or any smartphone user for that matter. The new plan will be offered on four new feature phones: the LG Revere, the LG Cosmos, the Pantech Caper and the Samsung (News - Alert) Gusto.
Customers who already own prepaid phones can also switch over to the new unlimited model if they so choose. Verizon prepaid phones do have Web access, but they are not smartphones, so you are looking at limited functionality.
The new phones will be available starting Thursday at Target (News - Alert), Best Buy, RadioShack and Wal-Mart, as well as at Verizon stores and its website.
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Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves
