What's Hot in Prepaid

PlatinumTel Includes 100MB of Data with $50 Unlimited Plan

The unlimited fire just doesn’t stop apparently. A few days ago, Sprint-powered PlatinumTel revised its rate structure to make its $50 unlimited wireless plan the most data-heavy unlimited-voice prepaid plan yet, with 100MB of usage included per month. This is in addition to unlimited voice minutes and text messages on Sprint’s nationwide PCS network. There’s even no-charge picture messaging; just pay for the data.

If you need more data, a 0.05¢ per KB (51.2¢ per MB) charge applies, or you can grab a $5 card for 40 MB or a $10 card for $100 MB of data. To our knowledge, those are the cheapest per-megabyte prices for cell-phone data anywhere on prepaid. AT&T, Page Plus Cellular and Virgin Mobile don’t even come close.

One other advantage of PlatinumTel’s non-contract unlimited plan is that there are no extra small monthly fees for service and/or web access like other PlatinumTel plans have, though the  company’s per-minute rates are quite good across the board. The Chicago-based provider’s other plans (one with unlimited nights and weekends, one wihtout) are unchanged, at least for now. We hear there will be a mobile broadband card plan soon though.

Page Plus Upgrades $20 Monthly Text Option to Unlimited

Page Plus Cellular today upgraded their Power Text plan from 5000 monthly messages to unlimited. The price stays at $20 per month. The package doesn’t include multimedia messages like other providers have done (most notably AT&T GoPhone and Virgin Mobile) however Page Plus couples the plan with one of the lowest voice minute rates in the industry (6¢ per minute to be exact) and the rock-solid Verizon Wireless network.

For those who don’t text as much, Page Plus still has a 2000-message-per-month plan for $10.95 per month, or pay-as-you-go texting for 8¢ apiece. Or, for heavy talkers, $19.95 above Page Plus’s unlimited-text package will net you unlimited voice minutes as well, plus 20 MB of data access. In short, there’s something for everyone at Page Plus, whether you talk, text or surf on your prepaid phone.

For those already on Page Plus, all these features might chew through your balance a little quicker. Fortunately, you can get airtime online right here (without sales tax in most places).

Wireless Competition is Red-Hot in South Texas

The weather isn’t the only thing that’s smoking hot in San Antonio, Texas (though at 100 degrees, it definitely qualifies for the classification). San Diego-based Leap Wireless, via their CricKet brand, is duking it out with San Antonio-based Pocket Communications in the unlimited wireless market, and consumers are winning.

Pocket, launched a few short years ago in the San Antonio area, recently expanded to Corpus Christi and the surrounding towns, after securing footholds in Laredo and Rio Grande markets. Their pitch: we’re better than CricKet. Pocket’s ad campaign pulls no punches when it comes to comparing their service to that of the nation’s second largest unlimited-only carrier; Pocket calls CricKet out as a leader in dropped calls, long customer service hold times, and high pricing. Pocket on the other hand says that their network has twice the number of towers as CricKet does, their customer service agents will answer calls in twenty seconds or less, and their cheapest phone is absolutely free after a mail-in rebate, including a free month of service.

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Page Plus Launches Unlimited Talk and Text for $39.95

Ostensibly in response to Tracfone’s $45-a-month Straight Talk product, Page Plus Cellular on Friday introduced a low-priced unlimited plan of their own, including calling, texting and 20 megabytes of data for $39.95, with no additional taxes and fees. The plan sacrifices 10 MB of data and unlimited directory assistance for the lower price point, however Page Plus’s take on Verizon-based unlimited service allows off-network roaming (59¢ per minute), additional data access without having to buy another full refill (at 0.06¢ per kilobyte, or 60¢ per MB) and the ability to use any Verizon-compatible phone rather than being stuck with Straight Talk’s three-model line. Page Plus is not even offering a discount on 411 service (something that Tracfone has offered at no additional charge anyway due to their custom phone-based minute tracking system), however free alternatives (like Free411 and Google’s GOOG-411 service) are available.

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MetroPCS drops plan pricing, adds features

MetroPCS will shortly be updating their website to reflect a $5 per month drop in rates for their $45 and $50 plans. The now-$45 plan gets social networking, navigation and e-mail, whereas the $40 plan now includes unlimited local, long distance, text messaging and web access. Our information page on MetroPCS will be updated as soon as the company’s website is.

Read more at CNet

Straight Talk Goes Unlimited for $45

The sound you just heard was the gauntlet being slammed down in the wireless industry. Tracfone’s Straight Talk brand, based like Page Plus Cellular on Verizon’s nationwide network, just launched an unlimited talk-and-text offering to augment its previous single-plan lineup. The price: a rather impressive $45.

The $45 price point is impressive because it undercuts all other prepaid unlimited offerings, and in some cases even those of unlimited-only providers like MetroPCS and CricKet. The Straight Talk plan includes unlimited voice, text and directory assistance, with 30MB of data access thrown in for web browsing and picture messaging.

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MetroPCS Launches $5 Unlimited International Calling

MetroPCS recently added flat-rate international calling to their stable of additional features available with their unlimited service plans. The cost: $5 per month.

Though their site doesn’t show a direct table as to which destinations are included in the unlimited plan, MetroPCS does include a tool to check whether a given phone unmber would be included in the plan. They also state that the destinations covered number over one thousand, in more than one hundred countries.

The unlimited direct-dial international calling feature (no 800 numbers or PINs to remember) is even available when using coverage provided by MetroPCS partner carriers, which include, among other providers, CricKet.

With features like this one and phones like the Samsung Finesse coming to MetroPCS, they’re more and more becoming a solid alternative to contract-based carriers on a feature, as well as a price, basis.