Prepaid
Wireless Tracker - July 2010 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 firsthand 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
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Virgin
Mobile Launching Prepaid MiFi
Offering
FierceWireless
Virgin Mobile launched the Novatel MiFi device that was Sprint’s
original MiFi
device. It’s great
to see a prepaid
hotspot offering. I
look forward to the
day when prepaid broadband will have the latest and greatest devices as
they
become available, rather than have to wait over a year to see they show
up on
prepaid.
Virgin
Atlantic to Get In-flight
Phone Calls, Web access
While it’s exciting to see in-flight broadband continue to gain
momentum, I’m
not sure how happy I would be to be stuck listening to
people’s phone
conversations. I
expect that over time
there will be restrictions imposed on what what’s considered acceptable
behavior.
Starbucks
to offer Free WiFi
What’s better than prepaid WiFi – FREE WiFi!
I expect to see full cities begin to offer free WiFi over
this coming
decade; we’ll see.
Boost
Mobile Wins Multiple Stevie(R) Awards
MarketWatch
(press release)
The award was presented for Boost’s 2009 turnaround after its launch of
the $50
talk, text, and Web plan. They
certainly
paved the way for a full on price war, and gained attention from
would-be
postpaid customers. However,
I’m not
sure how innovative discount pricing is, and I don’t expect
such
success is
sustainable now that such all-in plans are becoming common-place. Notwithstanding,
congratulations Boost!
Prepaid
Wireless Broadband @ Walgreens
Though PrepaidWirelessGuide.com broke this news previously, just a
reminder
that Ready Mobile Prepaid Broadband can now be found at Walgreens
stores across
the country!
Boost
Mobile Brings Android to Prepaid
with Launch of Motorola i1
2010 will be the year that Google Android prepaid handsets entered the
market! Not sure
how many people are
running out to buy an iDEN (i.e. SLOW data) Android handset, but let
the
revolution begin!
Simple
Mobile Refreshes Calling Plans
Although a pretty small MVNO of T-Mobile, essentially selling SIM
starter kits,
it’s interesting to watch how these unlimited plans are evolving in the
prepaid
market. While not a
huge player, Simple
is said to be doing quite well!
SouthernLINC
Wireless unveils $50 Prepaid
Unlimited Monthly plan
IntoMobile
(blog)
SouthernLINC, a regional iDEN player announced a$50 Boost-like all-in
unlimited
plan. For those
SoutherLINC customers
waiting for some unlimited love, along with a prepaid Android offering,
you’re
in luck!
Proposed
Federal Bill to Require ID on Prepaid
Phones
Gerson
Lehrman
Group
Requiring ID to sign up for a prepaid phone has been discussed in the
past,
however, it’s reared its ugly face once again.
Although controlling terrorism is certainly important,
with identity
theft also being a critical issue, this could have a significant impact
on the prepaid
industry. When I’ve
seen work on this is the past, it
was always quite complex and expensive for prepaid carriers to
implement. That
said, as prepaid becomes more appealing
to legacy postpaid-type customers, it’s not as though prepaid growth
will be
devastated, however, it would immediately eliminate a particular
demographic
(similar to the unbanked),
most of which are certainly not terrorists.
i
wireless
Sneaks $50 Unlimited Everything Prepaid
onto T-Mobile's Network
PhoneNews.com
Another $50 all-in prepaid unlimited plan on T-Mobile’s MVNO i wireless.
Coinstar
Sells Off E-Payment Business
Wall
Street Journal
inComm continues to expand its reach with its latest acquisition of
Coinstar’s
prepaid processing business. And
let the
consolidation continue!
Sprint
Nextel Expands Wireless
Service for Poor in Prepaid
Push
Kansas
City
Business Journal
Sprint announced the expansion of its free cell phone service,
Assurance
Wireless, to Maryland and Texas. Anyone
in these states can check out their website for eligibility!
What's New at
Prepaid-Wireless-
Guide.com?
- Updated PagePlus Unlimited
plan to new $44.95 price
(previously $39.99) &
corrected mistake on picture messaging (should have been unlimited
instead of
$0.25/min)
- Updated
Apple iPad
data pricing with new plans
launched on 6/7
- Added
Page Plus Kyocera G2GO M2000 to Prepaid
Mobile Email
- Updated
Smartphone
Comparison with Boost i1 Android
pricing
- Responded
to C2 iPad Reviews posting: i-spend-more-time-on-my-ipad-than-i-do-watching-tv
- Added
Virgin to Best MiFi
Plans and updated content to
reflect that there are
now true prepaid MiFi offerings
Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from
you. Just reply to
this zine and tell me
what you think!
Cheers!
PrepaidWirelessGuy
