So with AT&T coming out with it’s $60 a month prepaid unlimited talk and text plan it looks like maybe cellular companies in the United States are finally starting to get competitive. Well, T-Mobile wants to remind people that it is the most affordable cellular provider out there. With it’s growing 3G coverage and a cell phone selection that is growing more and more competitive with it’s Android-based selection, T-Mobile is looking more like a real competitor in the national cell phone market.

It seems like the company is getting tired of being dead last in the list of national carriers. T-Mobile has the fewest subscribers in comparison to Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, and Sprint.  It is planning on doing something about it.

T-Mobile has realized that people want to pay less for their cell phone bill. Sprint figured this out and created a $99 unlimited plan with unlimited everything. T-Mo may now trying to one-up the number three carrier by offering the same thing (unlimited talk, text, and data) for $50 a month.

The rumors that are surrounding Project Dark include the carrier offering data intensive phones such as the Nokia N900 and more Android devices such as the Motorola CLIQ. The rumors go on to say that the next stage is the spreading of a 21Mbps HSPA+ system being rolled out across the country. To compare, right now AT&T is still trying to introduce a 7.2 Mbps data coverage.

Of course, all of this is just based on rumors floating around the internet. T-Mobile has always been the carrier with the spottiest coverage, but usually the cheapest price (other than small, regional carriers). This does seem like a move that the company would make to entice people to drop their contracts with other carriers and switch.

A few days ago, I was talking to Chris about cell phone companies and their ability to compete and I told him that if one of the major carriers started dramatically dropping their prices then others would follow suit. I also said that if other carriers could get their hands on the iPhone, prices would drop dramatically. But because AT&T has a firm hold on the iPhone, it isn’t likely to see other carriers get it any time soon and therefore, AT&T won’t be dropping their prices.

Blackberry maker Research In Motion increased its share of the U.S. smartphone market to 50 percent in the quarter — up 15 percentage points from the previous three months, the research firm said. By contrast, the market shares of both Apple and Palm declined 10 percent.

RIM’s success was largely due to Verizon’s aggressive marketing of the BlackBerry Storm and its buy-one-get-one BlackBerry promotion to its large customer base, explained NPD Group Director Ross Rubin. “The more familiar, and less expensive, Curve benefited from these giveaways and was able to leapfrog the iPhone due to its broader availability on the four major U.S. national carriers,” Rubin said. Source

Blackberry is, and will likely be for some time, the company to beat in smartphone sales. As more people, who may not necessarily be business users, begin buying more data-centric phones then there will be a larger market for smartphones and there may be some room for another brand such as HTC to take some market share away from RIM, Apple and Palm.

Of course, there will always be consumers, like me, who will go for the cheaper plan versus the cheaper phone. I don’t have a Blackberry because, on Sprint, it was an extra $30 a month for the Blackberry plan, while my Palm didn’t cost anything extra. Now, I’ve come to the realization that if I really want to get a “next-generation” phone then I will have to upgrade to a more expensive plan (but it was nice while it lasted).