PlatinumTel Includes 100MB of Data with $50 Unlimited Plan
August 21, 2009 · 1 Comment
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
August 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment
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
August 10, 2009 · 3 Comments
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.
Page Plus Launches Unlimited Talk and Text for $39.95
August 10, 2009 · 2 Comments
MetroPCS drops plan pricing, adds features
July 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment
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
July 7, 2009 · 2 Comments
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.
MetroPCS Launches $5 Unlimited International Calling
July 5, 2009 · 2 Comments
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.
Virgin Mobile Intros Samsung Mantra, Data Card
June 19, 2009 · 1 Comment
Virgin Mobile has officially entered the wireless data card business, though their product of that sort won’t arrive until the end of this month. In more immediate news, $59.99 will now buy you a Bluetooth-equipped camera phone, the Samsung Mantra.
The Mantra has a mere VGA camera, but Bluetooth and the Samsung name are two pluses on the new flip phone on Virgin Mobile’s Sprint-powered service. However the UTStarCom Arc offers the same features for $10 less, if you can live with not having a name brand phone with a normal form factor.
The broadband card is more interesting. It’s not the best deal out there; the card weighs in at a hefty $149.99 from Best Buy, and data plans are skimpy, offering only 1GB of data for a $60 monthly fee. In contrast, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T offer 5GB of data access for that amount.
Tracfone Intros Straight Talk: 1000 minutes, texts and more for $30
June 9, 2009 · 6 Comments
Tracfone is known for its airtime balance displays, contract-class coverage and nononsense phones and features. Now they’re tryng something different, and that “something different” looks very, very good for the prepaid market.
The plan: 1000 minutes, 1000 messages, 30 MB of web and no-extra-charge directory assistance. The network: Verizon Wireless, for the same coverage as Page Plus Cellular and Verizon’s own (rather lackluster, compared to this anyway) prepaid service. The phones: the Motorola Razr v3a, the Motorola w385 or the LG 200c. The price: a mere $30 per month.
Tracfone’s choice of Verizon as the only network for this new service is a departure from their other plans, which heavily favor AT&T and include free roaming just like a modern contract plan. Then again, this allows Tracfone to pass cheap per-minute rates on to Straight Talk customers and, with Verizon’s purchase of Alltel, their network is huge anyway.
T-Mobile Offers Prepaid BlackBerry
June 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Looks like T-Mobile is now, through a partnership with Best Buy and possibly Target, pushing Bleackberries on their prepaid service, making them first operator to do this on a national scale. MetroPCS also offers a Blackberry, but service is limited to their regional coverage area, and the dual-band Blackberry Curve doesn’t work in newer MetroPCS markets.
The Blackberry in question is the “Pearl II“, a more media-focused model with RIM’s SureType keyboard rather than a full QWERTY part. The smartphone has a 2-megapixel camera, WiFi, Stereo Bluetooth and a full-size headphone jack. The price for the phone is $299.99, expensive compared to postpaid (where it’s often given away to entice people into expensive data plans) but $50 less than the usual non-contract price.
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