CHICAGO, June 3 (UPI) -- Monthly mobile phone plans have become more competitive than ever, as carriers offer more minutes to consumers for the same or less money, but increase their profits by selling expensive innovative features as extras, experts told UPI's Wireless World.

This is what people can continue to expect "as fallout from the big cellular mergers," said Derek Kerton, a wireless industry consultant.

The mergers, such as that of Sprint and Nextel -- which is expected to be approved by the Federal Communications Commission later this year -- as well as earlier deals, have remade the mobile marketplace, making it more national and less regional than ever before. By Gene Koprowski