AT&T’s Plan Revamp Signals the End of Voice Minutes

The days of worrying about minutes ticking away on your cell phone plan are nearly gone.

AT&T is dropping the availability of its old plans for new smartphone subscribers, and all of the remaining plans include unlimited calling and texting with the exception of one. The three other major U.S. carriers -- Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile -- now only offer unlimited voice and messaging to new customers. Now, new customers with smartphones have no option to get limited minutes other than a plan from AT&T that offers 450 monthly minutes for about $40, with texts and data costing extra. (Verizon Wireless does offer a plan with 200 voice minutes for people over 65 years old.) The carriers aren’t making this change because they think customers should just have unlimited calls for free. It is because voice traffic is falling and data use is skyrocketing. Focusing on data and giving everything else away seemingly as a freebie actually centers the companies on their main source of revenue growth.