UScellular is the latest wireless carrier to join the unlimited plan trend

Verizon Wireless’ announcement earlier this month that the carrier would offer a new unlimited data plan for its customers generated a huge reaction from all the other big carriers (AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile), as they launched or modifed their own unlimited plans to compete. Today, the nation’s fifth biggest wireless carrier, UScellular, has joined the unlimited plan trend with its own deal for new and current customers.

The prices for the carrier’s unlimited plan start at $60 a month for one line, with auto-pay setup for bills. Prices go down per line when you add more of them to your plan, all the way down to $40 a month per line for four lines and above. The unlimited plan includes streaming video, but is limited to just 480p resolution. The plans also offer free calling to Canada and Mexico, and mobile hotspot data, although there’s no word if there are any limits for that service. The big catch with this plan is that if you use more than 22GB of data per month, your downloads will go down to 2G speeds for the rest of the month.

UScellular is still offering plans with 2GB of data starting at $40 a month for one line, along with a plan with 5GB of data starting at $50. People who get new devices from the carrier can set up payment plans with 20, 24 or 30 month options.

Verizon’s unexpected unlimited data plan reveal has certainly changed the game in the wireless market. As we mentioned earlier this month, we think the rise in popularity of streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, and live streaming from phones to Facebook and other social networks, was a big reason why we have seen this sea change.

Have you recently switched from a data cap plan to an unlimited plan on your carrier? Let us know in the comments!