LEAP, PCS Slide As Wal-Mart Offers Cheap Pre-Paid Wireless Plans

The already intensively competitive wireless sector today finds itself with a tough new player: Wal-Mart (WMT). The retailing giant has teamed up with American Movil (AMX) to sell low-cost service under the Straight Talk brand. The company is offering unlimited voice and text minutes for $45 a month, or 1,000 minutes and 1,000 text messages for $30 a month.

WMT is rolling out the plans nationwide after previously testing service via 234 stores, according to Reuters.

This is something of a nightmare for the pure-play pre-paid wireless companies, including MetroPCS (PCS) and :Leap Wireless (LEAP), which just a few days ago found themselves facing the prospect of AT&T (T) jumping into the pre-paid market. But it certainly seems like a good deal for AMX, which adds a powerful distribution partner.

In today’s trading:

• LEAP is down 47 cents, or 3.1%, to $14.93.


• PCS is down 25 cents, or 3.3%, to $7.29.


• WMT is down 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $50.20.


• T is up 11 cents, or 0.4%, to $26.01.


• Sprint (S), parent of pre-paid operator Boost Mobile, is up 3 cents, or 0.9%, to $3.44.


• AMX is up 58 cents, or 1.2%, to $48.44.