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Cricket To Offer Prepaid iPhone 4S with $55 Unlimited Plan

Michael Kwan — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 02:00:01 +0000

Up until now, the only way to get an iPhone in the United States is through a postpaid plan. That’s going to change on June 22, as Cricket is going to offer the Apple iPhone on a prepaid basis. Yes, you can finally get a prepaid iPhone.

To make things even more interesting, Cricket Wireless is getting really competitive with its $55 monthly plan. This is an unlimited plan with as many minutes and text messages as you’d like to use. They say it comes with unlimited data, but their definition of unlimited is limited to 2.3GB of “fair use.”

Apple commented on the announcement: “By making iPhone available on pre-paid plans through Cricket Wireless, we are making the best smartphone more accessible to an even broader market in the US,” Apple representative Natalie Harrison told The Loop.

The non-contract prepaid price for the iPhone is roughly on par with the unlocked model that you can get in other markets, if not slightly cheaper. You can get the 16GB iPhone 4S for $499.99 or, if you want to save a hundred bucks, the regular 8GB iPhone 4 can be had for $399.99 outright.

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Wind Mobile Simplifies Down to Just Two Unlimited Plans

Michael Kwan — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:32:39 +0000

Choosing a cell phone plan can be an exercise in frustration for a lot of people, so Wind Mobile has decided to simplify its offerings down to just two voice plans: The Wind 25 and the Wind 40, which are appropriately priced at $25 and $40 per month, respectively.

With the Wind 25 plan, you get unlimited local talk and unlimited text, along with 100MB of data. It also includes unlimited Canada-wide Wind-to-Wind calling, unlimited incoming, and call control (which includes caller ID). With the Wind 40 plan, that gets upgraded to unlimited Canada-wide talk, text, and data. The rest of the features are the same as the Wind 25.

Naturally, there are still the standard add-ons for you to consider too, like $8 voicemail and $10 unlimited US-wide calling and text messaging. The Wind 40 plan also has a $5 option for BES. For long distance, they’re also offering a “World Saver International Talk & Text” option for $8 per month. That gives you unlimited global text, plus up to 90% off international calling rates.

Check out Wind’s site for more information. As an aside, the Pay Your Way prepaid service from Wind has just added unlimited incoming calls too, in case you want to take that route instead of a monthly plan.

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Republic Wireless $19/Month Unlimited Plan Has Soft Caps

Michael Kwan — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:00:04 +0000

Tired of paying $50, $60, $100 or more to get some decent cell phone service? It looks like a real deal is being offered by new wireless carrier Republic Wireless, because they’ve got a $19 per month plan that gives you unlimited talk, text, and data. Yes, unlimited data too.

This crazy plan is now live and it does not appear to be a promotional price to lock you into their fold. That $19 price point sticks with you for however long you stick with Republic Wireless. If it sounds too good to be true, well, you have to understand a couple of catches.

First, you’re not really allowed to bring your own phone. Instead, you have to use a special phone with special hardware geared specifically toward Republic Wireless. For now, the only handset available is the LG Optimus with Android 2.3 ($199 outright, $99 with coupon code “welcome19″), but they’ll surely add more in the future.

The service is designed so that you use Wi-Fi for most of your needs and it only falls back onto 3G (Republic uses the Sprint network) as necessary. This includes both data requirements, as well as voice. This “hybrid technology” is not unlike the UMA service from T-Mobile. Texts can be sent over Wi-Fi too.

The other catch? While the plan is “unlimited” in name, there are some soft caps. If your Cellular Usage Index (CUI) is too high, meaning you do too much on 3G (and not enough on Wi-Fi), Republic Wireless will show you the door. The “soft caps” appear to be set at 550 minutes, 150 texts, and 300MB of data. Remember that these are only over 3G and you can be as unlimited as you want over Wi-Fi.

Oh, and in case you’re curious, Republic Wireless is a venture by Bandwidth.com, which also happens to be the parent company of such companies as Skype, LivingSocial, and Pandora. So, yes, they know what they’re doing when it comes to consumer-geared online services.

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The new ‘unlimited’ data plans from T-Mobile

Michael Kwan — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:20:46 +0000

I’m tired of this. It’s one thing to make boastful claims like having the largest network, the fewest dropped calls, or the fastest data rates. It’s another thing altogether to say that you have unlimited data, only to cite specific limits to how much of that unlimited data you can have. And that’s exactly what T-Mobile has done.

The new “Value” plans will be made available on July 24 and the idea is that you can get access to T-Mobile’s 4G network (let’s not open the whole “what is 4G?” can of worms again) in a “more affordable” way. They say that these plans offer “unlimited data” but then they immediately say that they come with “2GB, 5GB, or 10GB of high-speed data — with no data overage charges.”

So, they just cut you off when you reach your cap rather than throttling you down? It’s not exactly unlimited when you have a limit set at those specific numbers. To be fair, most users aren’t going to use all that much data, but you can’t market these plans as having unlimited data when it’s clearly limited. An example they give is the $49.99 per line Value family plan “with unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited data with 2 GB of high-speed data.” It’s not unlimited data!! Grr…

Image from DeadZones.com

Serious: ‘Unlimited’ Plans at T-Mobile Limit you to 2GB

Michael Kwan — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:39:44 +0000

It’s like going to an all you can eat buffet, only to discover that you’re limited to one hour of eating before they make you go through a complicated maze to get another piece of fried chicken. You can keep eating, sure, but each successive trip to the buffet line takes longer and longer.

And that’s fundamentally what is happening with the “unlimited” plans being offered by T-Mobile USA. Yes, you have “unlimited” data to use, but you’re effectively capped at 2GB of bandwidth. After that, you get throttled (possibly down to a crawl) to deter you from using any more data.

As per the press release: “Consumers exceeding 2GB of usage in a billing month will still have access to unlimited data at reduced speeds until their new billing cycle starts.”

I’m not sure if this is better than the “virtually” unlimited plans that were out a couple years ago, where you experienced a hard cap after a certain amount of data. Don’t sell me an “unlimited” plan if it isn’t really unlimited. If I’m paying for unlimited, I want unfettered access to my roast beef. Where are the government regulators on all this? Shouldn’t they step in and straighten out their turnspeak. T-Mobile is now Turnspeak-Mobile.

T-Mobile’s Even More Plus plan will run you $60 a month sans contract, but at $80 a month, hey, you’ll get the “Even More plan” on a two year contract. Wait a little longer and you may even see an “Even More Plus More Plan” for $100 giving you more limits. Give me a break.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced that new, single-line unlimited plans are available starting tomorrow for just $79.99 per month, with an Even More™ plan and a two-year contract, or $59.99 per month, with an Even More Plus™plan with no annual contract required. Available for a limited time, the new plans offer great value for new and existing customers with unlimited nationwide calling, texting and data on America’s Largest 4G Network™.

“Consumers today are looking for even more value and flexibility from their wireless plans,” said John Clelland, senior vice president, marketing, T-Mobile USA. “While data plans for many of our competitors continue to be very expensive, T-Mobile is lowering the price of our unlimited plans and offering more options, making it easier than ever for customers to step up to a richer mobile data experience on our 4G network.”

Combined with an extensive lineup of affordable smartphones, T-Mobile’s new Even More unlimited plan allows customers to save more than $350 per year on an unlimited smartphone plan, compared to similar plans from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint1. Customers have the flexibility to purchase any phone in T-Mobile’s lineup and sign up for an unlimited rate plan — with or without a contract term commitment.

In contrast to some competing offerings, T-Mobile’s new Even More unlimited and Even More Plus unlimited plans enable customers to use mobile data on their smartphones without incurring any overage charges. Consumers exceeding 2GB of usage in a billing month will still have access to unlimited data at reduced speeds until their new billing cycle starts. On average, T-Mobile 4G smartphone customers consume about 1 GB of data per billing month.

In addition to its unlimited plans, T-Mobile continues to offer one of the industry’s most affordable entry-level data plans, starting at just $10 for 200 MB per billing month. The company also strives to help customers on these data plans avoid surprise bills with SMS alerts when they are reaching their data limit.

The new $79.99 Even More unlimited and $59.99 Even More Plus unlimited plans are available starting tomorrow for qualifying customers. To find the T-Mobile plan that best fits their needs, customers can visit http://www.t-mobile.com.
T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G network not available everywhere. See coverage details at T-Mobile.com.

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New $25 unlimited plan coming to Virgin Mobile?

Michael Kwan — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:03:40 +0000

Just because you want to have an unlimited plan doesn’t mean that you have to break the bank. This comes from an unverified source, but it seems that Virgin Mobile is about to unleash one of the cheapest “unlimited” plans that I have seen for some time. How cheap? How does twenty-five bucks sound?

Looking at these new Virgin Mobile plans, the $25 unlimited plan will give you unlimited text, unlimited email, unlimited data, and unlimited web. That’s a lot of Twitter updates and YouTube videos! The downside is that the $25 plan only comes with 300 anytime minutes.

If you’re the kind of person who tends to chat a little more than that, you can bump up to the $40 a month plan. It’ll give you the same unlimited features, but you get 1200 anytime minutes. For truly unlimited, there’s the $60 plan with unlimited minutes. BlackBerry users, for whatever reason, are on the hook for a $10 premium on any of these three plans.

I don’t talk much, so the $25 unlimited “Beyond Talk” plan sounds awfully appealing. I wonder if they’ll be offering anything similar to Canada.

On a related note, three new phones should be launching with Virgin Mobile soon too. There’s the LG Rumor Touch ($150), the Kyocera Loft ($70), and the BlackBerry Curve 8530 ($300).

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New Verizon unlimited voice plans keep things simple

Michael Kwan — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:10:28 +0000

The last thing you want to see is a whole whack of unexpected overages on your cell phone bill and that’s why these unlimited plans can be so appealing. Verizon Wireless is jumping into the fray with a range of unlimited plans of its own, giving you a viable option for that newly acquired Motorola Droid smartphone.

Set to kick off on January 18, the Nationwide Unlimited Talk Plan is $69.99 a month and gives you unlimited minutes to chat with anyone in the United States. If you want to add unlimited text, picture, and video messages, then you’ll want the $89.99 Nationwide Unlimited Talk & Text Plan.

For the entire household, Verizon has the $119.99 Nationwide Unlimited Talk Family SharePlan. That includes the first two lines of service. As with the single line option, you can bump up to unlimited messaging too for a total of $149.99 per month.

Other new introductions include the $9.99/25MB data plan for 3G multimedia phones, like the LG enV Touch and Samsung Rogue. This replaces the $19.99 data package option. Data packages for 3G smartphones stick around at $29.99 a month.

Existing customers can keep what they have or they can move to one of the newly announced plans should they so choose. There is no penalty or need for contract extension to make the switch.

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New Unlimited Plans from Cricket Wireless Include Tax

Michael Kwan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:58:15 +0000

In Canada, you can really get dinged with some of the cell phone plans out there. You see that a plan is only $20 a month, but then you have to pay extra for caller ID, voicemail and text messages. And then they add a $6.95 system access fee and a $0.50 911 fee. And then there’s tax too. Well, at least one carrier is doing something about this whole nickel-and-dime phenomenon in the mobile industry.

Hopping over to the United States, we find that Cricket Wireless is offering one of the better plans available today and the quoted price is the price you actually pay. The price includes your minutes and such, but it also includes taxes and other fees too. This is great for budget-conscious consumers.

The new $40 Cricket PayGo plan includes unlimited talk, unlimited domestic long distance, and unlimited text/picture messaging. For five bucks more, you can upgrade to the $45 PayGo plan to get unlimited mobile web. Do note that this is “mobile web” and not “unlimited data.” I can’t say for sure, but I’m thinking this “mobile web” thing doesn’t apply to smartphones.

If you’re more inclined to get wireless connectivity on your laptop, Cricket Wireless is also introducing a new unlimited $50 Cricket Broadband plan. Like the $40 and $45 unlimited PAYGo plans, this broadband plan presumably includes taxes and fees as well.

Source: Mobileburn

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