CricKet Comes Out With New Plans

Okay, one more news item before I get on with the carrier descriptions...

CricKet just redid their plan structure. Roaming plans are now available, with 100 or 200 minutes included, and all plans now include unlimited long distance. As is text, picture and instant messages. The bad news: it's more expensive. Plans now start at $40, up from $30...here they are...

$40 - Unlimited local, long distance, text, picture, IM
$45 - $40 plus calling features (3-way calling, caller ID, call waiting, etc.) and full CricKet coverage
$50 - $45 plus web
$55 - $45 plus 100 minutes of roaming
$60 - $55 plus another 100 minutes of roaming

Expensive, no?

And in San Antonio...

$37 - Unlimited local, long distance, text, picture, IM, calling features, Texas coverage
$40 - Unlimited local, long distance (?!?)
$45 - Same as other $45 OR $45 with only text messaging but 200 roaming minutes
$50 - Same as other $50

Also, the discounts on CricKet's phones aren't nearly as steep now. The Motorola Razr v3c, which was $230, is up to $260. The KRZR is $350, the SLVR is $170 (it was $150), and a few other phones are up to higher prices than they wre last month. Ah well...

From my point of view, it's nice to see CricKet make text, picture messaging, IM and long distance available across their whole line of plans...but at what cost? For San Antonio users, the cheapest per-month option is Pocket again, with CricKet prices going up by $12 as far as their lowest plan goes (they ahd a $25 local plan with no extra features). For everyone else, the cheapest plan is $10 more expensive, though it has added more than $10 worth of features. And yes, roaming is available now, but then again with web access the cost of CricKet's best plan is now $65 plus taxes and fees a month...I thought unlimited carriers were really cheap? I'm just wondering what MetroPCS and Pocket will do in response to this...whatever it is, it'll be interesting...