Recently in prepaid Category
T-Mobile has started offering T-Mobile Complete, a pre-packaged
no-annual contract solution that offers the value of a monthly plan and
the first pay-in-advance BlackBerry smartphone from a national U.S.
carrier. Prepaid BlackBerry smartphones include the BlackBerry Curve 8520 for $299.99 and BlackBerry Pearl flip for $149.99.
With T-Mobile Complete, customers can choose from four
handsets starting at $59.99, which includes first month free. Customers
can also choose from a range of unlimited plans starting at $50 per
month. T-Mobile Complete is currently available nationwide at Best Buy
and at select Walmart locations.
Walmart will offer Straight
Talk, a new no-contract cellular deal on October 18, 2009 at Walmart.com. Straight
Talk has two prepaid plans at $30
and $45 a month.
To help drive down no-contract wireless pricing for customers, Walmart has Straight Talk providing customers the following two options:
- Straight Talk "All You Need" 30-day Plan that includes the following for only $30 month:
- 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30MB of mobile web access.
- Nationwide coverage.
- 411 Information calls at no extra charge.
- Straight Talk's Unlimited 30-day Plan that includes the following for $45 a month:
- Unlimited minutes, unlimited text and unlimited mobile web access.
- Nationwide coverage.
- Unlimited 411 Information calls at no extra charge.
Boosted by it the competition of prepaid unlimited offerings AT&T will start offering a unlimited voice and text prepaid deal on feature phones starting October 12.
AT&T's Unlimited Talk and Tex is $60 a month. The new GoPhone prepaid feature package offers unlimited nationwide calling and unlimited texting to anyone in the U.S., plus it includes texting to Mexico, Canada and more than 100 other countries worldwide. With this new package option, customers can also send unlimited IM, picture and video messages.
"We recognize GoPhone customers have a need for unlimited calling or texting without the commitment of an annual contract," said Judy Cavalieri, vice president of Prepaid Products for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. "The new Unlimited Talk and Text package enhances our prepaid options to give customers the flexibility of a national network with no contract requirement."
GoPhone also offers a selection of devices including full keyboard devices like the popular LG Neon, available in all AT&T stores, as well as other retail locations.
Compass Intelligence just released a new report on the US prepaid
wireless market. Prepaid is the hot growth area right now, even in businesses. Small Businesses are even hotter for wireless. They employ more workers and are more mobile. Now is the time for new offers for these customers -not just bundles, but real options.One of the key findings from Compass Intelligence's latest survey is that prepaid options apparently have appeal in non-traditional customer segments (e.g., higher income groups and businesses), which suggests prepaid wireless has become a viable alternative for businesses and professionals, and that this may be the beginning of a broader trend in the industry: more flexible contract options.
Company‐liable accounts have been the rage in business wireless for last few years. Businesses have migrated their workers to these shared, company‐wide contracts. And, in smaller companies, employers have purchased new devices for their workforce. In 2009, it seems that business owners and decision‐makers are starting to turn to prepaid for their companies' wireless needs as shown below.As much as 22% of respondents planning to get new prepaid devices in 2H will give one or more of those devices to employees in the company they work for. Small business owners are most likely to say so...
Cricket Communications followed MetroPCS' lead and enhanced service
plans with more web and unlimited features.
Cricket'sr $40 monthly plan, which already includes unlimited
voice, long distance, domestic and international text and picture
messaging, and nationwide coverage, will include unlimited web, unlimited 411 and unlimited service to more than
4,600 cities and towns across the US.
Cricket's $45 monthly plan in will now include the additional features of unlimited email, unlimited data backup and 30 roaming minutes per month. The $55 plan mirrors the $45 plan but also contains 200 roaming minutes per month.
According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 U.S. Wireless Prepaid
Customer Satisfaction Index Study, Prepaid carrier NET10 ranks highest in
overall customer satisfaction among non-contract wireless user. The study also showed an increase in monthly plan services, pay-as-you-go has a higher satisfaction rate and demographic differences with older users.
NET10, included in the study for the first time this year, achieves a score of 774 on a 1,000-point scale and performs particularly well in three of the six factors that drive overall satisfaction: performance and reliability; cost of service; and account management. Also ranking at or above the industry average in rank order are TracFone, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Alltel and T-Mobile.
"NET10 differentiates itself from other companies by simplifying the wireless experience with straightforward pricing, virtually no roaming charges and robust nationwide network coverage," said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates. "Users find they don't have to worry about restrictive calling areas and can maintain their account without hassle."
The study finds that product offerings in the prepaid segment have changed dramatically during the past year, with many wireless carriers increasing their offerings of monthly plans-some of which mimic traditional contract plans, while others offer unlimited calling and texting. More than 40 percent of non-contract plans are monthly plans, compared with less than 30 percent in 2008.
In addition, overall satisfaction among users of pay-as-you-go plans (756, on average) is considerably higher compared with users of monthly plans (742, on average), driven by satisfaction with the performance and reliability and account management factors.
ComScore, released a quarterly review of the U. S. prepaid wireless
industry based on online visitation and search referral activity. It showed strong
gains in online activity as consumers increasingly turn to
cost-effective wireless service alternatives during the economic
downturn.
The combined visitation to these sites grew 37 percent versus
year ago to nearly 8 million visitors, representing more than 4 percent
of the total U.S. Internet audience.
Growth in the category was
driven primarily by MyCricket.com (up 107 percent) and Boostmobile.com
(up 105 percent), both of which more than doubled in visitation versus
year ago. MetroPCS.com and Net10.com also experienced strong gains,
growing 63 percent and 37 percent, respectively.
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Prepaid Wireless Site Visitation March 2009 vs. March 2008 Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix |
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| Site | Unique Visitors (000) | ||
| Mar-08 | Mar-09 | Percent Change | |
| Total Prepaid Wireless Audience* | 5,806 | 7,968 | 37% |
| VirginMobileUSA.com | 1,554 | 1,512 | -3% |
| TracFone.com | 1,390 | 1,290 | -7% |
| MetroPCS.com | 1,154 | 1,879 | 63% |
| MyCricket.com | 925 | 1,915 | 107% |
| BoostMobile.com | 871 | 1,784 | 105% |
| Net10.com | 346 | 474 | 37% |
*Unduplicated audience of six selected prepaid wireless sites
During the first quarter
of 2009 (1Q09), the top 10 carriers in the United States added just under 3.5
million retail net subscribers. Out of these retail net subscribers, 75% were
prepaid users. Over 20 million gross retail subscribers were added for the top
10 carriers during the quarter. The total market for the quarter closed at just
over 274 million retail wireless subscribers in the United States. Data revenue
now accounts for 25% of total retail service revenue."The prepaid carriers in the U.S. are rolling out very competitive price options for consumers," according to Richard Murphy, IDC's Wireless and Mobile Communication analyst. "Wireless users are looking closely at their plan options during this very tough economic cycle. If wireless users continue to look to save money on monthly bills, prepaid offerings could become a very serious option."
Unlimited wars have heated up again this week. On Thursday, Virgin Mobile revealed their Totally Unlimited prepaid calling plan for $49.99 on April 15, 2009, and "Pink Slip Protection". Within a day, Boost sent out a news release to compare their unlimited service with Virgin Mobile's unlimited service.
Virgin Mobile's "Pink Slip Protection," will waive up to three months of monthly charges, if the customer becomes unemployed. Pink Slip Protection also applies to the new Texter's Delight program, designed for those who text more than talk. Virgin Mobiles' Totally Unlimited plan includes unlimited calling, anytime, anywhere in the United States is available for $49.99 Texters Delight plans offer 1000 Messages for just $14.99 or Unlimited Text and Messaging for $19.99. Included are Text, IM, Email, Photo and Video messaging.
Then we received a release from Boost Mobile saying that they were better and cheaper. They dared to compare and of course the comparison is in their favor:
"Boost Mobile's Monthly Unlimited plan offers greater value to consumers than Virgin Mobile's new $49.99 voice-only plan. In fact, Virgin Mobile's $49.99 per month plan can cost consumers closer to $72 per month when fees for text messaging, Web and telecom taxes are added in.
Boost Mobile charges $50 for unlimited use of talk, texting and wireless Web, plus there are no extra taxes.
Consumers who choose Boost Mobile can save more than $240 per year over Virgin Mobile's offering, and they won't be surprised by their wireless bill."
Cricket Communications announced that Cricket coverage is now
available in the greater Chicago area. Cricket will introduce its Cricket unlimited wireless
services through the rollout of retail outlets on a
geographic basis, completing the initial distribution footprint over
the next 30 days. It looks like their plans may be the cheapest, best deals in the area, depending upon cell phone usage.
Cricket service will be available in the area through 10 Cricket
retail stores, 100 exclusive dealers and 50 standard dealers, as well
as online. They have just released the Cricket A100 and Kyocrea S1300.
Customers in Chicago, which is reportedly the largest Cricket market
to date, will now have access to unlimited, feature-packed 3G wireless
voice and broadband services. Also, there is now contiguous Cricket coverage stretching from over
60 miles south of Chicago in Kankakee to as far north as central
Wisconsin.
Cricket has these special offers:
- $30 Online Special plan - includes unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited nights & weekends and caller ID.
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$35 Online Special plan - unlimited anytime minutes, US long distance and Caller ID for only $35 a month.
- $40 Plan with Unlimited local & long distance minutes + Unlimited text & picture messaging.
- $45 Unlimited Plan with unlimited Local and U.S Long Distance Calls, Unlimited Text, Picture and Instant Messaging.
- $50 Unlimited Everything Plan - Unlimited Local and U.S Long Distance Calls, Unlimited Mobile Web, Unlimited U.S. & Mexico Text, Picture and Instant Messaging, Unlimited Coverage in Cricket Markets, Voice Mail, Caller ID, Call Waiting and 3-Way Calling. Offer ends.
The best deal however, appears to be this one through our Wireless and Mobile News coupon-link which is the first month free with free shipping when you purchase a phone and plan online through this coupon-link.
Verizon has revamped its Inpulse prepay plans with three options
- The Core Plan has a daily access fee
is $0.99 for each day of use and unlimited in-network
calling. All other calls are $0.10 per minute and text rate.
- The Plus plan has a
daily access fee is $1.99 with free night calling $.05 minute for weekends and text messages..
- The Power
plan, night and weekend calling is free with a daily access fee $2.99. Text messges are 2 cents.
| Refill Expiration (once applied to the account) for Prepaid Plans |
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$20/month for Unlimited Messaging to anyone on any network in the U.S.
$10/month for Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Messaging with Verizon Wireless customers PLUS 250 additional messages.
RIM is planning on selling BlackBerry On Demand, prepay and BlackBerry in a Box. RIM has launched a prepay service in Indonesia and is working on finding carriers to offer prepay services. Sales presentations to carriers were leaked to Boy Genius. Prepay is very popular in foreign countries and 72% of the world market. They will target Gen Y and Gen XIt's being geared for:
- limited budget kids or small biz
- people carriers won't give an account to
- someone who doesn't want to committed to a long term contract
- people who don't want share personal information for security and tax reasons
- ex-pats, entrepreneurs, independent workers
Alcatel-Lucent announced at Mobile World Congress. plans to develop and distribute a prepaid option to operators in the wireless market for use with the BlackBerry platform.
Customized for BlackBerry smartphones, the real-time, volume-based charging solution will be hosted by Alcatel-Lucent and will seamlessly integrate with operators’ existing networks. This option will enable BlackBerry smartphone users to track the minutes and data they have used against the prepaid amount remaining in their account so they can easily refill their account as needed.
The partnership between Alcatel-Lucent and RIM has already led to distribution of the BlackBerry solution in several countries across Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including China, the world’s largest wireless market.
