Comments on: Sprint May Announce Even Cheaper Unlimited Plans

By: PhoneBoy

PhoneBoy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:49:12 +0000

@spg Hmmm yes I should blog something about that.

By: spg

spg — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:42:10 +0000

so sprint has made an announcement: $99 all inclusive including data. the next step is for them to offer a version without data and all the other gimmicks for less $$.

By: PhoneBoy

PhoneBoy — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:19:39 +0000

@spg now if pageplus charged you $2.49 a day only on days you used your phone, that’d be an even better deal.

Too bad we don’t have these prepaid MVNOs on GSM networks, else I’m sure I’d be all over them for my family. Other than the occasional CDMA loaner, and an old Nokia 6185 from Sprint, I quite simply don’t have any CDMA phones.

By: spg

spg — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:41:03 +0000

the prepaid MVNO’s are at it again. pageplus(roams on verizon) is now offering a deal where your account gets debited $2.49/day and you get unlimited calling to any number in USA from anyplace on teh verizon network. that comes to less than $75.00 a month or in other words a lot less than the big guys. of course that is also the total charge including all taxes and fees. and of course you can call and change your plan at any time so lets say you are going away for 3 weeks. switch to per minute prepaid and pay absolutely nothing for those 3 weeks. or use the 5.5 cent per minute option when you are working and using your phone very little. take a 6 week vacation and going to be yaking non-stop. switch to the $2.49/per day. of course you can also activate any and all unlocked CDMA phones. here in denver you walk into any crikit shop and have just about any CDMA phone ever made unlocked in about 10 minutes for about $10 or $15.

these guys(the small prepaid companies) are always way ahead of the game. i can not imagine ever signing a contract with any of the major carriers ever again. and of course the customer service people answer the phone with very little time on hold and even seem to care.

By: PhoneBoy

PhoneBoy — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:15:19 +0000

At $60 a month for unlimited, I think you might get some $40 a month people upgrading so they never have to worry about it again.

Here’s a crazy idea: the providers either offer unlimited calling for X a month on contract or if you want to spend less than that, go prepaid. Talk about simplifying your rate plans. At least now a contract might have some value: not having to worry about counting minutes.

By: spg

spg — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:23:49 +0000

it might be going nuclear and they will lose there high paying customers to lower payments. but at $60 we are at a price point where they just may get a very big chunk of customers for whom they are only receiving $40 at the moment. personally i do not see myself going off prepaid but i know a lot of people who cut short phone prematurely for fear of going over minutes. these people are not about to upgrade for a couple hundred more minutes a month. on the other hand a suspect a lot of them would pay an extra $20 if it meant they would never have count another minute. that could result in the single biggest price bracket increasing by 50% in ARPU of course at the cost of everything above $60.

beside i suspect some of these companies are looking at metroPCS and crikit as takeover targets. with the idea that they would bring those companies plans nationwide. that means not more than about $60 unlimited nationwide service.

By: PhoneBoy

PhoneBoy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:08:46 +0000

@spg you’re right, the numbers mentioned by Verizon were that the plan would cater to less than 1% of their customers. $60 would be tantamount to going nuclear, though.

By: spg

spg — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:03:31 +0000

$60 would be a good starting price for a price war. to be honest the previously announced plans would cater to such a tiny portion of the public as to be almost insignificant. in fact i was starting to think that the only way they would have much of an impact is if other rates went up. the overwhelming majority of Americans are on a $39.99+plus all kind of weird fees plan. plus something more for data. with this sprint may be able to finally start gaining back customers; and i would expect t-mobile to be very close behind with a similar deal.