What keeps cellphone companies from giving cheap unlimited service?

Weird question but i%26#39;ve been thinking about it. Don%26#39;t you think that the first company to provide "cheap unlimited cellphone use" would get all the business and ultimately make a ton of money? I never understood the fact that you should pay for "airtime".

Answer:

The problem is that most of the profit goes straight back into the companies. It%26#39;s pretty expensive to build and upkeep the cell phone towers. To get licensing from the FCC, the rights for the land, and construction of a tower, it can cost up to $500,000. That%26#39;s one tower. Now think of all the towers that a carrier has to support nationwide. That doesn%26#39;t include upkeep either. Then add in all the bandwidth that they need to pay for when it comes to data services like text messaging or email (let alone mobile TV or streaming music). Carriers also take a hit every time they sell a phone. A phone that you get for free usually retails for around $200. The cost to the company for a phone that price might be $130. So when you sign a contract, the company loses $130. They need to make up that cost too. There are also all of the employees that the carrier needs to pay. Would you rather sit on hold for 45 minutes to reach someone in India that doesn%26#39;t have a clue about what cell service in the US is like, or would you rather spend 2 minutes on hold to speak to someone that lives in your general vicinity? There are thousands of people employed strictly to handle customer service over the phone every day.