WT&T

Megalith Wal-Mart said that it is introducing the first cell phone plan that uses the chain's own branding. I assume that means people will pay less than their IQ for a monthly rate that gives them more minutes than their weight.

The Wal-Mart Family Mobile service will run on T-Mobile USA's network. Unlimited calling and texting will cost $45 per month for the first line and $25 for each additional line for the family. The service will be offered starting next week in most of its stores across the nation. Since last year, Wal-Mart has been the exclusive seller of the "Straight Talk" service, which runs on the Verizon Wireless network. The company is also trying out another service from Sprint called Common Cents. Those are both "prepaid" plans, under which customers pay in advance and don't need to sign contracts, because how many of their customers have credit?

Wal-Mart Family Mobile will be "postpaid" like conventional contract-based plans, so the family bill is paid at the end of the month. But in other ways it works much like prepaid service, and it won't come with a contract requirement or early termination fees. Buyers also won't need to go through credit checks. And what of the perception that both Wal-Mart and prepaid services don't offer the best phones or the best network quality? The chain plans to sell five phones, including a full-blown smart phone (the Motorola Cliq XT, which will cost $249 compared to $329 with T-Mobile), though typical customers can get a cheap Nokia for $35.

Straight Talk also costs $45 per month for unlimited calls and texting, and offers no a discount for additional lines. And while Straight Talk offers unlimited free data, there are no smart phones available for it - it's called straight talk, not smart talk. Also, the plan undercuts T-Mobile own prices, but Wal-Mart putting its own stamp on the brand name was a "tremendous endorsement." And while there's no contract, the phones will be "locked" to Wal-Mart Family Mobile, so they won't be usable on another network, or even under a T-Mobile-branded plan.