Apple and AT&T announced iPhone Service Plans Starting at $59.99 per month--Activation is through iTunes

The biggest iPhone mystery was finally resolved. AT&T and Apple announced three simple, affordable service plans for iPhone which start at just $59.99 per month.

All iPhone plans include Visual Voicemail, an industry first, which allows consumers to see a listing of their voicemails, decide which messages to listen to, then go directly to those messages without listening to previous messages. Just like email, Visual Voicemail on iPhone enables users to immediately and randomly access the messages that interest them most. Unlike most wireless plans that charge additional fees for new features, there are no additional fees for Visual Voicemail.

"We want to make choosing a service plan simple and easy, so every plan includes unlimited data with direct Internet access, along with Visual Voicemail and a host of other goodies," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We think these three plans give customers the flexibility to experience all of iPhone's revolutionary features at affordable and competitive prices."

All iPhone monthly service plans are available for individuals and families and are based on a new two-year service agreement with AT&T. Individual plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes. All plans include unlimited data (email and web), Visual Voicemail, 200 SMS text messages, roll over minutes and unlimited mobile-to-mobile and a one-time activation fee of $36. Family plans are also available. Customers with existing AT&T accounts will have the option of keeping their existing phone number and upgrading their account to work with iPhone.

"Users will be able to activate their new iPhone in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "There are tens of millions of people in the US who already know how to sync their iPods with iTunes, and syncing their new iPhone with iTunes works the same way."

iPhone users will be able to activate their new iPhones using Apple's popular iTunes software in the comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a store while their phone is activated. Activating iPhone takes only minutes as iTunes guides the user through simple steps to choose their service plan, authorize their credit and activate their iPhone. Once iPhone is activated, users can then easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts, TV shows and movies just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.

We currently have an AT&T family plan with two cell phones which costs around $65 per month with taxes and fees. However, it does not include unlimited data so $59.99 per month for the iPhone service including unlimited data and Visual Email is a pretty good deal. While the announcement states that AT&T's regular service plans are available along with family plans for the iPhone, it is not clear that we can simply add the iPhone to our current family plan and upgrade it to get unlimited data. We will see when we get our iPhone. [Bill Fox]