Recently in prepaid cellular service Category

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 $30and $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. 

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.

AT&T obtained final judgments and permanent injunctions against defendants in four federal lawsuits stopping the unauthorized bulk buying and resale of prepaid mobile

AT&T has filed 14 lawsuits against companies and individuals in Texas, Florida, California, and New York in an effort to stop the illegal activity. The lawsuits have resulted in a total of 15 permanent injunctions and final judgments totaling $51 million in damages.

AT&T says it will file additional lawsuits to aggressively investigate and combat the issue.

Prepaid wireless handset diversion is an industry-wide issue. Middlemen typically buy prepaid mobile phones in bulk, remove them from their original packaging, discard warranties and manuals, hack into the phones' software and then resell the phones and accessories to unsuspecting customers at a substantial profit.

Among judgments AT&T has recently obtained:

• On May 27, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a consent judgment and permanent injunction against IA Communications, Inc. of Westbury, N.Y.; and DK Wireless Inc., d/b/a Wireless Touch and Talk 2 Me, of Baldwin, N.Y.
• On June 15, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a stipulated final judgment and permanent injunction against Mohamad Farhat of Coachella, Calif. and his company, Delta Games, Inc. of Montebello, Calif.
• Also on June 15, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami entered a stipulated final judgment and permanent injunction against defendants Ibrahim El-Zaatari and Tropical Export, Inc., both of Miami.
• On June 25, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered a stipulated final judgment and permanent injunction against California Products International, Inc. of Downey, Calif.

In all of the above final judgments, the Court found the defendants' conduct violated numerous state and federal laws, and awarded a judgment in the amounts of $3 or $5 million in damages.

The injunctions permanently prohibit the defendants in each case from engaging in any activities in any way related to the bulk purchase and resale of AT&T prepaid phones, and from using the AT&T or GoPhone trademarks in connection with such activities without AT&T's authorization.

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.

Prepaid Wireless Site Visitation March 2009 vs. March 2008 Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix
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

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.
  
• $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.

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 X

It'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
  

It's not clear when BlackBerry prepay will be available in the US.  The sales presentation suggests rates as low as a dollar a day which seem very appealing to people who don't need data access every day.  The BlackBerry in the Box service would include a year of service and the BlackBerry.  The option is a non-subsidized BlackBerrry with ways to buy by the day, month or other period of time.

Crisp Wireless announced results from its Second Quarter '08 Crisp Wireless Index (CWI). Among the key findings in the Index, mobile web usage continues to grow significantly with a 29.4% increase from 1Q08 to 2Q08. The index is a quarterly barometer of consumer activity online via mobile devices based on usage across sites of select publishers in the Crisp Wireless Publisher Network from April 1, 2008 through June 30, 2008.

According to the 2Q08 CWI, the following trends have emerged:

• Local news is viewed mostly in the morning, while national news is viewed continuously throughout day.
  
• Sports fans check scores and highlights during their favorite games, with highest traffic on evenings and weekends.
  
• Women visit the mobile web late at night and early in the week mirroring their online habits; and young girls are browsing late night, especially on the weekend. -
• Entertainment and online services are accessed most in the evenings, primarily on the weekends as visitors are making their weekend plans.

TracFone Wireless, the Tennessee Department of Safety, local nonprofits and elected-officials will launch SafeLink Wireless to aid 812,807 low-income households in Tennessee.

The SafeLink Wireless service will provide Tennessee's eligible low-income households a free cell phone, unlimited mobile access to emergency services (911), and over an hour of air time each month for up to one year. (Participants may renew service and will be required to re-submit eligibility documentation upon their year completion. More information will be provided during media interviews.) The cell phone offers in-demand features: free voicemail account, text, call waiting, international calling to over 60 destinations and caller ID.

In September TraFone started offering a similar service for Florida residents.

To learn more about SafeLink Wireless, including eligibility requirements, please call 1-800-977-3768 or visit safelinkwireless.com.  You can get refill your Tracfone Wireless Airtime here.

MetroPCS Communications, Inc., provider of unlimited wireless communications service, today announced the launch of its flat rate unlimited wireless service in Los Angeles. MetroPCS will provide the people of Los Angeles with unlimited local and long-distance service.

With plans starting as low as $30 a month, MetroPCS offers the lowest unlimited wireless calling choices now available in the market. Already available in Northern California, including the San Francisco and Sacramento markets, the Los Angeles service launch means expanded wireless coverage and an added value for customers throughout California.