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While most carriers in developed economies are moving slowly but surely towards usage-based pricing for smartphone data, the prepaid brands are engaged in an intensifying price war, especially in the US. Sprint's Virgin Mobile brand is certainly bucking the tiered charging trend by offering one of the most generous unlimited mobile broadband plans to date, at $40 a month.

The no-contract, all-you-can-eat plan replaces Virgin's existing $20, $40 and $60 plans, the last of which was capped at 5Gb. So high end users will get more data for their money - the opposite of what most operators are trying to achieve, but indicating the serious challenge from fellow prepaid players like TracFone, MetroPCS and T-Mobile. Lighter users will lose the $20 option however, though Virgin will retain a 'starter plan' of $10 for 100Mb over 10 days, suited to casual users.

The plans are confined to dongles, which are associated with heavier data usage than handsets, but are not necessarily more irksome for the network, since they are more efficient in signalling terms and tend to be used in stationary situations. The initial two devices offered with the $40 plan are the MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot, which allows a 3G connection to be shared between several Wi-Fi gadgets, and the Ovation MC760 USB dongle.

The combination of MiFi and unlimited data pairing could pose a strong challenge to smartphone plans with tethering and is also being explored by non-US carriers like Vodafone. Virgin users pay $150 upfront for the MiFi device.

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