Limits on Unlimited

There's been a proliferation of so-called "unlimited" plans lately, following the game-changing announcement of Straight Talk.

Competition is fine. First, it puts power in the hands of the users who can choose what's best for themselves on their own.

Having choices is good. It also forces each provider to make sure its offerings measure up against its competitors'. It's another win for users.

But when competitors don't match up favorably with others, what do they do?

Cheat. Hide. Lie. Confuse people. Bury extra charges, penalties, overages and limitations in the fine print.

Why?

Some alleged "unlimited" plans include per-day fees and other sneaky things. Their coverage is spotty and inadequate. Or their retail stores are in unsavory and exotic locations.

Straight Talk is different. It runs on Verizon, America's most reliable network. Second, it's available nationally at some local Walmarts and online here.

No hidden charges, per-day fees or any of that stuff. What you see is what you get.

What do you get?

There are two plans. All You Need is $30 for 30 days with 1,000 nationwide anytime minutes, 1,000 texts and 30MB of data (around 350 web pages). You buy airtime and it's good for 30 days. When you run out, you buy more.

The second plan, Unlimited, is $45 for 30 days of unlimited talk and text (and 30MB of data).

Simple. No hidden fees. No nonsense.

You can check out the plans and phones here.

Just make sure that when you're looking at other plans that claim to be unlimited, they really are.