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As wireless carriers start reporting first-quarter results that week, investors will be looking at the effects of some spectacular price cuts for prepaid cell phone service.

That’s a change from recent years, when flashy new phones and info services hogged the spotlight. that year, the developments have been more appropriate for a recession: citizens who are least able to pay are getting cheaper service.

In traditional prepaid service, which generally has been marketed to society with iffy credit, customers buy minutes in advance, and often are charged a fee for each day they use the phone.

The big change that year has been the rise of prepaid plans with no limit on the minutes used.

In January, Sprint Nextel Corp. made a bold move to capture a larger share of the prepaid market, launching a service with unlimited calling, texting and Web access for $50 per month under its Boost Mobile sort.

The plan was partly

a response to MetroPCS Communications Inc. and Leap Wireless universal Inc., two upstarts building their own wireless networks. In the last few months, they’ve expanded into New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago with unlimited plans that cost around $50 a month, depending on the options.

Sprint’s price cut left Virgin Mobile USA Inc., another big player in prepaid, in an untenable position with its $80 per month unlimited plan. that month Virgin Mobile said it would slash its product to $50.

that is a contrast to the situation a year ago, when the four national carriers — AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile USA — offered unlimited service at about $100 a month on their “postpaid” plans, the kind used by subscribers who sign contracts, usually for two years at a day.

considering of the rise of more appealing prepaid plans, the recession, and the fact that nearly everyone who can…

Original post by dhiram