AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc., three of the top four U.S. mobile-phone carriers, announced flat-rate subscriptions Tuesday for unlimited wireless calls, intensifying pressure on Sprint Nextel Corp.
Verizon Wireless parent Verizon Communications Inc. shares fell the most in almost six years in New York trading after the mobile carrier announced a plan to give users unlimited calling time for $99.99 a month.
AT&T announced an identical service, and T-Mobile offered unlimited text messages and calls for the same price.
The flat-rate plans may force Sprint, which lost 1.2 million customers with wireless contracts in 2007, to offer a similar subscription at a lower price, perhaps $70 to $80 a month, said analyst Christopher King of Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore.
Verizon, which trails AT&T in total wireless customers, added 1.6 million contract subscribers last quarter.
“This very well could be the beginning of a significant price war,” said King, who advises holding on to shares of Sprint, AT&T and Verizon Communications. “Once you have an all- you-can-eat plan out there, voice minutes become a commodity.”
Verizon Communications shares tumbled $2.49, or 6.6 percent, to $35.34 Tuesday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, its biggest drop since July 2002.
