Alltel today announced it is broaching the world of prepaid, offering its customers a range of service plans from pay-per-minute to pay-per-month.

Called U, the service allows for a great deal of customization. Starting with a pay-per-minute plan that charges a flat rate of 15 cents a minute, the plans broaden into daily rate plans that charge a fee of 75 cents a day for flat-rate 10 cent per minute calling, but allow customers to select from options like unlimited nights and weekends or unlimited text messaging for free. The monthly rate plans resemble post-paid plans with buckets of minutes for a flat charge.