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Prepaid Wireless Tracker, September 2009 -- Page Plus Fights Back With $39.95 Unlimited Plan!
September 01, 2009

Prepaid Wireless Tracker - September 2009 Issue

Hi,

Prepaid wireless is a growing and truly exciting industry.  At Prepaid Wireless Guide I try to provide you with in-depth information that isn't readily available anywhere else.  Its content is original, and created from first hand experience working in the prepaid wireless industry.

This monthly email provides you with a quick glance at what's 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.

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Page Plus Cellular Offers Unlimited Plan
IntoMobile
Page Plus announced the availability of its new unlimited plan for $39.95/month, which includes voice, text, and 20MB of data.  That’s a pretty compelling offer for voice and text centric users, and it’s on Verizon’s nationwide network.

Sprint: Prepaid Cell Service Profitable – Postpaid Continues to Bleed
InformationWeek
It’s interesting to read that while Sprint continues to bleed postpaid subscribers, these customers are not migrating to their prepaid Boost brand.  Perhaps once disgruntled enough to leave, they rather go to a completely different company altogether, even if they ultimately end up selecting prepaid.

MetroPCS, Leap Wireless: Merger Candidates?
SmartBrief
There was a lot of dialog last year about a possible merger between MetroPCS and Leap Wireless, however that never materialized.  I’m happy to see this conversation be resurrected, for it seems inevitable that they’ll need such a partnership to really compete in the nationwide unlimited prepaid game.

MetroPCS, Leap Both Bitten by Competition
Wall Street Journal

Both Metro and Leap have reported slowed growth due to competitive pressures.  I think their major challenge lies in the latest competition, which offer unlimited nationwide plans with lower/no fees.  Do I smell a merger?!

Prepaid Cell Phone Competition Sinks MetroPCS Profits (source article removed)
Dallas Morning News
Metro reported lower profits due to competition.  I expect they’re currently regrouping; don’t expect that they’ll sit back and see their business decline!

Leap Has Wider Loss in Second Quarter
San Diego Union Tribune
Similar story to Metro in terms of slowed growth.  It will be interested to see what their next move will be!

Cricket's Prepaid Offerings Bolstered
San Diego Union Tribune
Cricket's $45-a-month plan was beefed up with unlimited e-mail, data backup, and 20 minutes of roaming.  It also expanded its $55 plan to include those services plus 200 minutes of roaming.  When competition strikes, customers win!

Walmart's TracFone Pushes Unlimited Prepaid Down to $45 (source article removed)
Gerson Lehrman Group
Good discussion about whether it would make sense for Verizon to purchase its MVNO, TracFone, similarly to how Sprint purchased Virgin.

NET10 Ranked Highest, Says JD Power
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 users.

American Airlines Continues Its High-Flying Domestic Expansion (source article removed)
Travel Daily News International
American Airlines reached a major milestone this week with its Gogo Inflight Internet service. The Wi-Fi service is now available on 100 MD-80 aircraft.

Page Plus Cellular Announces Unlimited Text Messaging Add-On Plan
PR Newswire (press release)
Not long after it announced its $39.95 Unlimited Talk n Text plan, Page Plus announces an unlimited text add-on for its other voice plans.  Watch out, Page Plus is on the move!

Qwest To Exit Wireless Business In October
Consumer Affairs
In case you didn’t know (I hadn’t heard of them!), Qwest is an MVNO on the Verizon network, which will be closing its doors this fall.  More fallout of the tough MVNO market.

Leap Applies for Stimulus Funds as Big Carriers Pass
CNET News
If it’s successful, Leap will use the funds to expand its Project Change Access program, which helps low income households get online.

Ready Wireless Announces Product Launch in 2000 Additional Retail Stores
PR Newswire (press release)
Ready Wireless mobile handsets and airtime will be available in approximately 1,500 Casey's General Stores locations in the Midwest and 250 Duane Reade locations in New York.

Sprint-Virgin Mobile Deal Gets U.S. Antitrust Nod
Reuters
The FCC has approved the $483 million purchase of Virgin Mobile USA by Sprint, meaning that there’s nothing stopping the deal from proceeding!

What's New at Prepaid-Wireless-Guide.com?

  • Updated Page Plus monthly plan to reflect that replenishing with any Talk n Text plan will convert you to the newer Unlimited plan.
  • Added new MiFi & Mobile Hotspot pages.

Reminder:

If you have any experience with prepaid wireless and/or prepaid broadband plans, please do share them by visiting the following pages and submitting your reviews/comments.

Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to this zine and tell me what you think!

Cheers!

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