$100 plans add to pressure on wired phones

For $100 a month consumers can now buy unlimited cell phone calling, underscoring the decline of traditional wired telephones in the new wireless world.

Wireless and AT&T Mobility on Tuesday both unveiled new flat-rate plans that eliminate not only long-distance and roaming charges, but also any time limitations on calls. The plan will appeal to high-volume cell phone users, estimated to be about 15 percent of the market, and will undercut their willingness to continue paying for landline phones, analysts said.

While wireless carriers like T-Mobile that do not operate wired networks have sought to persuade customers to cut the cord, it is a new twist for AT&T and Verizon, the two leading carriers in both wireless and wired phone services, to do so, said Moe Tanabian of IBB Consulting of Princeton, N.J.

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