Prepaid Wireless Tracker
- December 2018, Issue #125
Hi,
Prepaid
wireless is a growing and truly exciting industry. At
Prepaid-Wireless-Guide.com I try to provide you with in-depth
information that isn't readily available anywhere else. The
content is original, and created from firsthand experience working in
the prepaid wireless industry for over a decade.
This monthly email provides you
with a quick glance at what's trending in the news so that you
can
easily keep
informed. I believe in brief, to-the-point
summaries/commentary
so that you can move onto other tasks in your day. Each
snippet
includes a link to the original story should you be interested in the
full details.
If you like this e-zine, please do a friend and me
a big favor and "pay it forward." If a friend DID forward
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you and if you like what you read, please subscribe to Prepaid Wireless
Tracker.
Note: I
do not have any affiliation, nor do I get paid by any of the sites that
I link to below.
They
are simply topics that I deemed interesting, and provide a link for you
to learn more, and I give credit to the source by listing their name
under the title. Enjoy!
Note: Can
you believe that last month was the only monthly ezine that I missed
getting out in the past 8 years! Unfortunately, I had to have
spinal surgery, and just couldn't swing it.
FierceWireless
Nearly
three years following its launch of Project Fi, Google has now changed
the name to Google Fi, and users can now bring their own phone.
Note that using one of
Google's phones allows you to
seamlessly
connect to T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular depending on what gets
you the best coverage. When you bring your own phone, you
don't
get this switching technology. It's interesting to note that
with
the pending Sprint, T-Mobile merger, this switching value proposition
will essentially be moot. That said, Google's plans are
simple
and easy to understand. Though with competition being what it
is,
its plans aren't as compelling as they used to be.
Personally,
I don't see why Google is still playing in this market. While
its
offering is respectable, I don't see how it's driving any real revenue.
Perhaps they see value in the customer usage data, or other
advertising play. It will be interesting to see how long they
continue supporting this product before terminating it. I
can't
visualize it as a long term play for Google, but you never know!
SYS-CON Media
For
$50 for two lines of unlimited talk, text, and data, this is a pretty
good deal. However, note that it's "basic" data only, which
equates to 2G speeds. In a world of 4G, with 5G on the
horizon,
2G is pretty bad; it really should at least be 3G. That's how
the
company ensures profitability I suppose. While they are
offering
3GB of additional data for the first six months, I tend to look at long
term value, and not short term promotions, but that incentive is there
nonetheless. Also, although existing customers are eligible
for
this new plan, new customers are eligible to receive a free Samsung
Galaxy J3 or Motorola Moto E4 smartphone; both of which are very
respectable
phones.
Telecoms.com
Combining
two major carriers resulting in a lowering of
competition and a
subsequent increase in price seems obvious. That said, it's
an
important reality that needs to be considered. The carriers
talk
of prices decreasing, however, that's clearly smoke and mirrors in an
attempt to gain approval. The long term impact will be higher
prices in a country that already pays among the highest data rates in
the world.
Financial Post
American
carriers can learn from this creative tactic. Customers on
its
10GB plan
get 100GB of overage that they can dip into whenever their
plan allowance is depleted. Depending on your usage, this
could
last a month or years. This peace of mind could drive people
subscribe to the higher priced plan, and certainly differentiates them
from other carriers with similarly priced plans. Ultimately,
I
like to see carriers trying to be creative, rather than simply
competing on the lowest common denominator, price!
FierceWireless
As
the year wraps up, this is a fantastic overview of the entire wireless
market. I always appreciate Mike Dano's articles, and the
work he
puts into them. While there has been some shift in market
share
between the major carriers, and some improvement in overall
revenue,
what's really telling is how flat the market has been.
Saturation
is a huge problem, and as postpaid has reinvented itself, and is
becoming less differentiated from prepaid, competition is fierce,
resulting in shrinking profits, and overall customer confusion.
Hopefully we can see some more creativity from carriers in
the
coming year, otherwise we'll see a lot more charts showing declines!
CNET
Here's
an example of the lack of creativity I was noting earlier as the major
carriers slash pricing on their unlimited plans. When
comparing
plans, though, don't forget that they usually come with caveats like no
HD video streaming, throttled speeds after a defined amount of data
usage, and hotspot may or may not be included, or have it's own
throttling restrictions. That said, these price wars are
generally good for customers, though tend not to last indefinitely.
I recall when Boost Mobile launched its original Unlimited by
Boost plan for $50/month. You still had to pay taxes and fees
on
top of that, however, at the time it was absolutely revolutionary
pricing, with the major postpaid carrier unlimited plans running well
north of $100/month. Now this price point is pretty common,
and
you can find plans from a myriad of both large carriers and
MVNOs
sitting at less than that.
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Wireless Tracker Back Issues.
Cheers!
PrepaidWirelessGuy
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