Prepaid Wireless Tracker - December 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
USA Partners with WalMart to Deliver Affordable Pre-Paid
Mobile
Gotta
Be Mobile
Virgin Mobile offers a $20 – 1GB data plan exclusive to USB and MiFi
modems
purchase in Walmart. It’s
definitely
great to see prepaid broadband options continuing to expand. However, I’m not a fan of
retailer-specific
plans. I think it
makes carrier options
confusing and unnecessarily complicated.
Retailers should stop trying to brand their own products
or create
exclusive plan offerings, but rather stick to being a sales channel. Why should I have access
to only certain
plans because I happen to purchase my modem at a particular store; it
simply
makes no sense, and benefits only the retailer.
I understand offering handsets or modems exclusively in
one channel or
another, however, the available plans should be universal, at least
within a
given market/geography. I
expect this
plan will ultimately be available to anyone.
Sorry Walmart, but you’re not going to take over the work,
despite your
best efforts ;-).
Google Free Inflight WiFi Internet
By
Hu$tler
Google is sponsoring free GoGo WiFi on all domestic flight on Airtran
Airways,
Delta Airlines, and Virgin America until January 2nd. If you’re using one of
these airlines, it’s
definitely worth checking out!
Cricket Wireless
to Offer a Prepaid Android
Tablet
Cricket to offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab
running Android 2.2. However,
details
are scarce regarding launch timeline and pricing.
It’s exciting to see tablets gain momentum in
prepaid as well, and interesting to note that prepaid is clearing not
lagging
as far behind postpaid as it once was.
Appraising US Wireless Operators in the Third Quarter
FierceWireless
For those of you interested in keeping
track of prepaid growth, this is a quick and dirty summary. I don’t think there’s
anyone on the planet
who is still denying the force that prepaid is having in the wireless
industry.
Clearwire Feels
Heat While MetroPCS Gains
MarketWatch
While Clear continues to add customers at a reasonable rate, they’re
still
burning cash, and struggling to get financing (despite Sprint’s
majority
ownership). Meanwhile,
MetroPCS, one of
the founders of flat rate no contract wireless, continues to see
positive
results.
Leap Wireless
Announce Q3'10 Results
By
Ramy Caspi
Cricket reported fairly weak results, particularly in comparison to
rival Metro
PCS. 2011 seems
like a do-or-die year for
Cricket; time will tell.
Delta Airline
the First Domestic Airline With Wi-Fi on Delta
By
Travel House UK
Delta to increase WiFi availability in its fleet by 40% by the end of
2011. I’ve used the
Delta service in the
past; it was relatively fast and a pleasure to use, particularly with
the extra
legroom that Delta appears to have over a number of its competitors.
Alaska Airlines
Offers Free Gogo Inflight Internet
Service
By
Nicola Spears
Alaska Airlines announced that it’s offering free GoGo WiFi until
December 9th.
Airlines are definitely enticing customer to
trial the service hoping that they’ll be able to ultimately generate
revenue.
MetroPCS Gets
Android 2.2 Device
Wireless
Week
MetroPCS to sell the LG Optimus M for $229.
It comes with Android 2.2, 3.2” touchscreen, WiFi, and a
3.2 megapixel
camera. While it’s
priced slightly
higher than Cricket’s prepaid Android phones, the plan is a better deal
at $50
instead of Cricket’s $55 smartphone specific plan.
What's New at
Prepaid-Wireless-Guide.com?
- Added
new page Sebastian Harrison Cellular Abroad
Interview
- Added
Right Column to site; let me know how you
like it!
- Updated
Prepaid Wireless Broadband Plans with new
Virgin Mobile
$20/1GB plan at Walmart
- Added
new pages International Cell Phone Service
& Best
International Cell Phone (Sebastian Harrison content)
- Added
MetroPCS LG Optimus M Android phone to
Smartphone Comparison
- Updated
Assurance Wireless available add-on
options/plans
- Added
“Will my Cricket USB Modem work with a Virgin
plan?” to
Wireless Questions page
- Added
new page Broadband Internet Review
Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from
you. Just reply to
this zine and tell me what you think!
Cheers!
PrepaidWirelessGuy
