Verizon has got around to announcing the unlimited plans rumored yesterday, and it seems that tipsters may have expected too much from the carrier with the brace of options we were told were coming.  In fact, they’ve launched a single unlimited plan - $99.99 gets you anytime calls to any number, cellular or landline, in the US - and a pair of new mobile broadband deals that, sadly, are still capped.  From March 2nd, users will be able to add a 50MB “BroadbandAccess” data plan to their contract for $39.99 a month, or 5GB for $59.99.

The news will disappoint anyone who hoped Verizon had taken rival AT&T’s unlimited data plan as a challenge and stepped up to offer their own response.  Although the iPhone - which is most famous for using AT&T’s data contract - only has an EDGE cellular connection (compared to the average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second and average upload speeds of 500-800 kbps Verizon claim will be experienced on compatible handsets), many users have found a new sense of mobile internet freedom from not worrying how much traffic they’ve racked up each month.  Analysts have long predicted that unlimited data rates will punctuate the transition between mobile internet as a niche product and the sort of user adoption that home broadband has seen.

Verizon’s Nationwide Unlimited Anytime plan is available now.