SPRINT PCS JOINED Verizon this week in announcing a nationwide flat fee pricing model for unlimited access to data on its 3G PCS Vision network. Verizon launched an unlimited data plan on its Express Network (3G) this summer.

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The goal of the flat rate for data plan, which starts at $85 for data in combination with 1,250 voice minutes and goes to $150 per month for 2,500 voice minutes, is to make data sessions as easy to use as long-distance, according to Phil Bowman, vice president of business marketing at Sprint, in Overland Park, Kan.

The flat rate is designed to appeal to a business audience, according to Bowman. "A flat rate offers predictability as far as cost is concerned," he said.

Sprint is also offering additional discounts to its corporate customers that centrally manage their wireless Sprint accounts online.

Sprint and Verizon both use the CDMA 2000 3G network, otherwise known as 1XRT, a technology which gives the carriers the capacity to carry data without cannibalizing its voice network. The same is not true of the GPRS or the 2.5G network technology used by AT&T Wireless, Cingular, and T-Mobile.

"If [the competition] were to adopt our model it will hurt their voice service," said Bowman.

However, one industry analyst said spectrum is an important limitation for all the wireless carriers, and it is an issue they can't do anything about.

"From a business perspective [flat rates for data] is a damn bad idea. If they get tons of customers and tons of traffic because of the flat rate they won't have the capacity. It is lethal. It's a suicide course," said John Strand, CEO of Strand Consult, based in London.

According to Strand, Sprint and Verizon will be giving away data to their best customers. The only customers that would opt for a flat rate plan are those that must have a wireless data connection and they would be willing to pay even more than the $85 per month to Sprint or $99 for the Verizon for access, said Strand.

But not all analysts agree.

"A flat rate pricing is a necessary component for pervasive adoption of data devices," said David Hayden, president of MobileWeek, in Palo Alto, Calif.

Hayden said he believes that the flat rate will force the rest of the industry to be competitive and encourage current customers to upgrade to more feature-rich phones.

Meanwhile, a senior analyst at research company IDC, based in Framingham, Mass., said it is too early to gauge the rate of adoption for wireless data. Dana Thorat at IDC believes the flat pricing plans are more targeted at making it easier for business users to adopt the new technology rather as a reaction to a slow adoption rate.

"It is too early for us to collect data on adoption. But you gain new subscribers with great content and handsets. But if the pricing isn't there it is not going to fly," said Thorat.