The countdown to the release of the iPhone is only 3 days away and today pricing plans came out for the new gadget.  The plans start at $59.99 for a basic plan and go as high as $99.99 per month for some more airtime.  These price plans are in line with comparable plans for smartphones from other carriers, but shares of Apple fell over 2% on the news.

Three monthly plans with a minimum two-year service contract will be available: the $59.99 plan includes 450 minutes of voice time; a $79.99 plan includes 900 minutes; and a $99.99 plan includes 1,350 minutes. All three offer 200 text messages, unlimited data services, minutes that roll over month-to-month and mobile-to-mobile calls. There also is a $36 activation fee.

Customers can pay extra for plans to get more talk time or text messages. Several family-style plans also are available, ranging from $80 a month for 700 shared minutes to $120 for 2,100 shared minutes.

People have already begun camping out for the phone on 5th Ave in New York City.  At&T stores will be closing their doors at 4:30pm on Friday to pepare for the release at 6pm.  They have also hired on 2000 temporary workers to deal with the expected influx of customers and curious  gadget freaks not yet willing to buy the first generation device.  I for one will be one of the folks just checking it out because it will do to smartphones what the iPod did for digital music.

Filed under: iPhone, PDA/Cell Phone