So yes, as we reported, Alltel ended up announcing its foray into the wide world of unlimited calling on Friday with its so-called National Freedom Unlimited plan. As we also reported, Alltel is really trying to downplay the package; it's nowhere to be found on the carrier's home page, and a quick gander at its latest press releases reveals nothing about it. Why the hush-hush? Alltel's insistent that its My Circle packages continue to offer a better value -- in other words, they're offering a totally unlimited plan simply to keep up with the Joneses. You might say that Chad (Alltel's lovable frontman) wants you to have 1, 5, 10, or 20 friends, and not a single buddy more, but if you insist on putting a permanent end to your minute-counting ways, expect to shell out $99.99 monthly for the privilege.

Rumor has it Alltel will be jumping on the bandwagon along with... oh, pretty much everyone else now -- including fellow mega-regional US Cellular -- to offer an all-you-can-eat voice plan starting tomorrow. Interestingly, the internal announcement emphatically reminds salesfolks that My Circle is still the best option for pretty much everyone; they basically stop just short of saying that they're rolling out the plan only to be able to say they have it, just like everyone else. Indeed, with 20 peeps in Alltel's My Circle 20 package, it's hard to justify the need to shell out $100 a month unless you're calling a wide variety of people and calling them all the friggin' time, but hey, Alltel's gotta keep up with the Joneses, right? We'll find out tomorrow if this is legit, but given the way the market has been going, we've no reason to believe it's not. Follow the break for the full announcement.

[Thanks, Miles]