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Cellphones are not just about voice anymore. Since Apple launched the iPhone three years ago, it turned the industry pricing model upside down.

A price war broke out Friday in the wireless industry, as Verizon Wireless and Dallas-based AT&T Inc. traded cuts on some of their monthly plans.

When the dust cleared, both carriers had announced lower fees starting Monday for some of their unlimited voice plans. AT&T also slashed the cost of one of its voice and data plans for smart phones, including the popular iPhone.

Verizon got things started by slicing the monthly price for unlimited voice minutes on a single line from $99.99 down to $69.99.

On a single line with unlimited voice minutes as well as unlimited text, photo and video messaging, the monthly fee is falling from $119.99 to $89.99.

Prices on family plans with unlimited voice minutes and family plans with both unlimited voice and unlimited messaging also are going down.

AT&T is matching those cuts dollar-for-dollar.

Both companies will allow existing customers to switch to the new plans without penalty or contract extension.

But AT&T went a step further. It will cut the price of its unlimited voice and unlimited Internet data plan for smart phones like the iPhone from $129.99 to $99.99 per month.

That's not AT&T's cheapest smart phone plan -- all of which include unlimited data -- but it does slice $30 off the monthly bill of any smart phone user who needs unlimited voice minutes.

Text messaging, though, is still an extra charge.

"Our new plans reflect customers' continuing desire to do more with their phones -- including talking and browsing the Web at the same time," Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive of AT&T mobility and consumer markets, said in a statement.

Verizon Wireless has about 89 million customers. AT&T has about 82 million wireless customers.

Independent telecom industry analyst Jeff Kagan said he was surprised it took so long for the two companies to make a move.

He expects more cuts to come for data plans as carriers battle over a dwindling number of wireless holdouts and users who are still clinging to basic handsets.

"The prices of unlimited data plans are going to continue dropping," Kagan said via e-mail. "Data plans are the future. Cellphones are not just about voice anymore. Since Apple launched the iPhone three years ago, it turned the industry pricing model upside down."

Neither Sprint Nextel Corp. nor T-Mobile USA Inc., the next two largest wireless providers in the U.S., announced price cuts Friday.

But both companies already offer plans that are either less expensive or include additional features -- such as unlimited text messaging -- compared to the new Verizon and AT&T offers.

Credit: The Dallas Morning News