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T-Mobile just announced a $10-a-month unlimited calling plan for its growing fixed-line effort, according to a new RCR Wireless News report, further challenging traditional landline operators on their home turf. America’s fourth largest wireless operator also joined other major wireless carriers in offering an all-you-can-eat cell phone plan this week.

The carrier’s new service, Talk Forever Home Phone, offers unlimited local and domestic long distance calls, the report said. The service is available in Dallas and Seattle to "T-Mobile wireless users with single-line plans of $40 or higher or family plans of $50 or higher."

To use the service, Talk Forever Home Phone subscribers will also have to buy a $50 router, the article said, and that "the carrier is suggesting - but not demanding-- that Talk Forever users purchase a $60 VTech phone at T-Mobile retail outlets."

Typically, the carriers don't want to touch Internet calling plans, because they threaten the use of regular cellular voice minutes and won't be able to make as much money off of them. There have been technical problems with some of them too, at least on cell phones if not in the home.

At any rate, T-Mobile has been doing an end run around the other three major carriers for a while, making up for the company's lack of a 3G network with various T-Mobile Hotspot and other Wi-Fi-related tie-ins such as this.

Price War Brewing?
MediaPost reports that the recent move toward unlimited, flat-rate voice plans by three of the major U.S. wireless carriers this week could help spur the growth of mobile media and advertising, according to both industry analysts and mobile marketing executives.

They said that the unlimited $100 voice plans announced in succession by Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile could lead to more usage, and as a step toward all-you-can-eat offers that will eventually include data services—which would be a huge improvement, if it came to pass. That would help turn the cell phone into a "more ad-friendly platform as more people download content, send text messages and surf the mobile Web," the report said.

"I think this will motivate some number of people who don't already have them to get data plans, and bring the overall cost of mobile plans down," said Greg Sterling, senior analyst for Local Mobile Search, a unit of Opus Research, in the article. "[The new plans would] also encourage more people to forgo their land lines in favor of cell phones instead of paying for both. The savings could be used to add a data plan," he said.

Sprint offers a similar plan to the other operators, but for $119.99 a month. Unlike the other carriers' offerings, Sprint throws in data access as well, however. Rumor has it, Sprint may soon announce a flat-rate calling plan for $60, a 40 percent discount from its rivals.

Could this week's announcements herald the beginning of a wireless price war?

Adapted from MobileContentToday.