Prepaid
Wireless Tracker - March 2011 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
be
interested in the full details.
If you like this e-zine, please do a friend and me a big favor and "pay
it
forward." If a friend DID forward this to you and if you like
what
you read, please
subscribe by visiting here.
Virgin Mobile
Sets New Standard in Low Cost Smartphones
Fortune
I’ve used the LG Optimus on other carriers; it’s a great handset, and
certainly
a welcome addition to the Virgin lineup.
2010 really saw the growth of prepaid smartphones, and
we’re only seeing
that accelerate in 2011!
PlatinumTel: Prepaid
Plan for Android Smartphones
By
Robbi
PlatinumTel now offers the Sanyo Zio Android smartphone. While it’s not an Android
phone that I can
recommend (based on my hands-on review), it’s good to see PlatinumTel
start its
smartphone lineup. I
personally find the
mechanics of their smartphone plans a bit bizarre, leaving many open
questions,
but maybe that’s just me. Perhaps
I’ll
have a chance to test it at some point and report back.
Page Plus
Cellular
Adds More Data, Messages to Prepaid
Cell Phone Plan
PR-USA.net
(press release)
Page Plus announced that it increased the text and data allowance for
its
$29.95 plan from 1,200 texts and 50 MB of data, to 2,000 texts and 100
MB of
data. This is a
smart move for a niche
company that often goes unnoticed, despite some fairly competitive
offerings.
Spot Mobile's
North American Partner Starts Distribution
TMCnet
Spot Mobile enters the prepaid MVNO market with the value proposition
of direct
international calling at discounted rates.
It’s able to compete in the international long distance
space due to
assets it acquired from Yak America.
I
hope they do well, for competition is always good, however, I would
certainly
not want to be a shareholder in a prepaid (or postpaid) wireless MVNO
in
this
market. Only time
will tell.
Cricket Brings
Music Download Service to Chicago
Tribune
For those interested in Cricket’s unlimited music download offering,
it’s now
available in Chicago.
With
only one
compatible handset currently available, and customer preferences
regarding how
we like to consume music, I’m not yet optimistic that this service will
drive
the results Cricket needs to compete.
Verizon
Blocking iPhone 4 from Page Plus Bring-Your-Own-Device Service
PhoneNews.com
No surprise here. Verizon
(and more
likely Apple) has prohibited the iPhone 4 from being used on its
prepaid MVNO
Page Plus. It’s
just a matter of time
before this ban is lifted. Even
if it
takes years, Apple will ultimately need to concede that prepaid is the
wireless
model of choice, and no longer has the stigma it used to. i.e. Having an iPhone on a
prepaid plan doesn’t
diminish Apple’s brand!
MetroPCS
Announces Its First LTE Enabled Android Phone
PC
World
Finally!
We’ve been waiting for a “real” smartphone to
become available on MetroPCS’ next generation 4G LTE network, and now
we have
the Samsung Galaxy Indulge. Though
at
$399, it’s likely to remain a low volume handset.
MetroPCS COO:
“We think feature phones are dead”
Prepaid
Reviews
(blog)
While I have no doubt that feature phones (i.e. non-smartphones) will
ultimately be phased out of existence, I believe it will take at least
five
years before we can even begin to speculate when that will be. As smart as smartphones
are, they’re probably
some of the most
difficult handsets on which to make a basic phone
call, and
battery life is really pathetic. Until
these (and other) basic usability issues are resolved, there will
always be
people who just want to be able to pick up their phone, make a quick
call, and
have it last all weekend without being concerned about remember to
bring a
charger with them. In
other words, while
this prediction is certainly true, it’s not only obvious, but
incredibly
premature to be discussing at this point.
Smartphone Boom
Reverberates Down to Leap
ConnectedPlanet
(blog)
I don’t care what anyone says; 600K smartphone sales in one quarter is
a lot of
smartphones! Prepaid-Wireless-Guide.com
has been predicting the introduction and proliferation of prepaid
smartphones
for some time now. It’s
great to finally
see carriers catching on to this reality as I can assure you that this
is not a
trend, but rather the future of prepaid wireless as it continues to
take over
postpaid wireless plans.
What's New at
Prepaid-Wireless-Guide.com?
- Added
new page i-wireless Sanyo Zio Review
Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from
you. Just reply to
this zine and tell me what you think!
Cheers!
PrepaidWirelessGuy
