The previously announced GoPhone plan changes are now live on the . They include a number of things that weren't mentioned AT&T's
announcing the changes.As announced:The high speed data allowance included with the $60/month plan was increased from 2.5 GB to 4 GB and unlimited calling to Mexico, including to mobile phones was added.The high speed data allowance included with the $45 plan was increased from 1 GB to 1.5 GB.There are a number of other changes that weren't officially announced although some had been rumored:The $55 US, Mexico & Canada plan adds unlimited calling to Mexico, including to mobile phones as well as unlimited texting while roaming in Mexico and Canada. There's also a new $25/month roaming data add-on that's only available with this plan and adds 1 GB of data roaming in Mexico and Canada There's a new $30/month plan with unlimited talk and text. Feature phones on this plan can use data at the absurdly expense rate of 1? per 5KB ($2/MB). A $5/month 100 MB data add-on that's available to both smartphone and non-smartphone users is a better deal.A new $1/day 100 MB Data Day Pass is now available to users on the $2 Day PlanThe $25 250 minute, unlimited texts plan and the $40 500 minute, unlimited texts, 500 MB plan have been discontinued, current users on these plans are grandfathered.The $45 plan no longer includes unlimited 3G data for non-smartphone users. All users on that plan now get 1.5 GB/month of high speed data plus unlimited data throttled to 128 Kbps after the high speed allowance is used up. The changes are generally positive. The data increase and the addition of unlimited Mexico calling certainly make the $60 plan more attractive.I'm sure some will be upset about the discontinuation of the $25 plan which, when combined with the $5 for 50 MB data add-on was GoPhone's least expensive option for smartphone users who wanted a little data. But the new $30 plan with its $5 100 MB data add-on provides twice as much data plus unlimited voice for just $5 more seems like a better deal unless you only needed less than 250 minutes and 50 MB per month.The new Data Day Pass for Daily plan users is interesting, especially if description on the AT&T site is accurate and using data doesn't trigger the $2 daily fee, which is only supposed to be charged if a call is made of received or a text. $1 per day for data only use is a pretty good deal for sort term international visitors or anyone who needs data only occasionally.The table below lists all the current GoPhone plans. Name Monthly Price
Voice Text/MMS Data Notes
10?/Minute Plan $8.33 and up 1 10?/min 20? domestic, 25? international or use package 2 Basic phones: 1? per 5KB ($2/MB)
Data not available for smartphones
$2/Day Plan $2/day on days used, $8.33/month minimum 1, 3 unlimited unlimited domestic and international Basic phones: 1? per 5KB ($2/MB)
1? per 5 KB non-smartphones only.100 MB/$1 Day Data pass OK for all phones
Monthly Plan $30 unlimited unlimited domestic and international 1? per 5KB ($2/MB) or100 MB for $5 1? per 5 KB non-smartphones only.100 MB for $5 add-on OK for all phones
Monthly Plan $45 6 unlimited unlimited domestic and international unlimited 1.5 GB High Speed, Add 500MB for $10
US, Mexico & Canada Monthly Plan $55 6 unlimited including to Mexico unlimited domestic and international including while roaming in Canada and Mexico unlimited 1 GB High Speed, Add 500MB for $10 4 Calls to Canada and calls made roaming within Canada and Mexico to the US and
are 1?/minute.
Monthly Plan $60 6 unlimited including to Mexico unlimited domestic and international unlimited 4 GB High Speed, Add 1GB for $10
1 $8.33 is the minimum monthly cost which is by using a $25 top up every 90 days. A $0.25 - $2.50/month "911" fee is deducted from your prepaid balance in .2 Available Domestic Messaging packages: 200 messages $4.99/month, 1000 messages $9.99/month, Unlimited $19.99/month3 $2/day is charged only on days the phone is used to make or receive a voice call (including a call to voice mailbox), send a text or use IM.4 A $25/month international roaming data add-on is available with the $55 plan only. It adds 1 GB of data roaming in Mexico and Canada5 $45, $55 and $60 plans include unlimited data throttled to 128 Kbps for the rest of the plan month after the high speed allowance is used up6 $5/month credit available for using auto pay on $45 and higher plans.Related:
All four US national operators gained subscribers last quarter:T-Mobile added 1.28 million postpaid, 266,000 prepaid, 434,000 MVNO and 152,000 M2M customers for a&total gain of 2.1 million customers&vs gains of 2.3 million in&Q3 2014 and 1.6 million in Q4 2013.Verizon added 1.99 million postpaid and 81,000 prepaid customers &for a&total gain of 2.07 million&vs gains of 1.53 million in&Q3 2014 and 1.65 million in Q4 2013.AT&T added 854,000 postpaid and 1,296,000 connected device subscribers but lost 180,000 prepaid and 65.000 reseller customers for a total gain of 1.9 million subscribers&vs gains of 2 million in&Q3 2014 and 809,000 in Q4 2013.Sprint added 30,000 postpaid, &410,000 prepaid and 527,000 wholesale customers for a total gain of 967 thousand customers&vs gains of 484,000 in&Q3 2014 and 477,000 million in Q4 2013.However only T-Mobile posted a profit last quarter as Verizon and AT&T swung to losses and Sprint's loss increased dramatically.T-Mobile made a profit of 101 million compared losses of $94 million in Q3 2014 and $20 million in Q4 2013.Verizon lost $2.15 billion&last quarter compared with profits of $3.79 billion in&Q3 2014&and &$7.92 billion in Q4 2013. It blamed the loss on one time charges for employee benefits and pensions.Sprint lost $2.54 billion&compared with losses of $192 million in&Q3 2014&and &576 million in Q4 2013. Most of the loss (2.1 million) was due to a one-time right down of the book values of the Sprint name and Sprint's wireline network.AT&T lost $3.98 billion last quarter compared&profits of $3 billion in&Q3 2014&and &$6.91 billion in Q4 2013.&It attributed the loss to higher benefit costs, write offs,&merger expenses and losses from the sale of Connecticut wireline operations. &In terms of total subscribers, Verizon is still the largest and T-Mobile the smallest. But fast growing T-Mobile is likely to pass Sprint into third place in number of subscribers sometime this quarter. Here's how the operators ranked by total subscribers at the end of the quarter:Verizon 128 million*AT&T 120.55 millionSprint 55.93 millionT-Mobile 55.02 million*Estimated. Verizon doesn't report wholesale and M2M customer numbers. Verizon reported 108.21 retail connections at the end of Q4, 2014. Industry analysts estimate that Verizon has approximately 128 million total subscribers, including wholesale and M2M connections.The number of prepaid customers increased for the second quarter in a row. All the carriers except AT&T gained prepaid subscribers. AT&T's decline in prepaid is surprising given its Cricket prepaid brand's aggressive pricing and the $100 credit it's been offering customers to switch to Cricket. I believe the losses were from AT&T's older and and relatively neglected in terms of marketing and customer incentives, GoPhone brand.Sprint added 410,000&prepaid subscribersT-Mobile added 266,000Verizon gained 81,000AT&T shed 180,000&América Móvil's Tracfone subsidiary, which operates under the Straight Talk, NET10, Tracfone, Simple Mobile, Page Plus, Telcel America and SafeLink Wireless brands, and is by far the largest prepaid MVNO gained 101 thousand subscribers last quarter. That's a substantial decrease from Q3 2014's 414,000 and Q4 2013's 613,000 new customers.Total prepaid customers by carrier as of the end of last quarter were:Tracfone 26 million&T-Mobile 16.32 millionSprint 15.54 millionAT&T 10.99 millionVerizon 6.13 millionAlthough all the carriers gained subscribers last quarter it came at a cost as as only T-Mobile was profitable. I wonder if we will see fewer price cuts and switcher credits going forward as the operators seek profitability?Sources: , , , , Related:
in , , , , ,
that AT&T will be making some changes to its GoPhone plan lineup this Wednesday, Feb. 18. According to Droid-Life's unnamed source:The $60/month plan's high speed data allowance is increasing from 2.5 to 4 GB per monthThe $45/month smartphone plan's high speed data allowance is increasing from 1 to 1.5 GB per monthThere will be a new $30/month plan with unlimited talk and text, including unlimited calls to Canada, Mexico and 100 other international destinations. This plan will not include any data but there will be an option to add 100 MB for $5/monthThe $2/day (charged only on days used) unlimited talk and text plan will get an option to add 100 MB of data, good for one day, for $1At this point I consider these changes to be only a rumor, although a credible one. GoPhone lost subscribers last quarter which is something AT&T likely wants to reverse. If the new $30 plan includes unlimited international calling, I suspect that the $45 and $60 plans will too, possibly as an extra cost add-on rather than being included in the base plan. GoPhone's current international add-ons of 250 international minutes for $5/month or 1000 minutes for $10/month are no longer competitive and in need of an upgrade.If the $30 plan is a reality, I also expect the current $25/month 250 minutes, unlimited texts, no data plan will be discontinued.Update 2/17/15: AT&T published a
this morning confirming that high speed data on the $45 plan would be increased for 1 to 1.5 GB on the $45 plan and from 2.5 GB to 4 GB on the $60 plan. The $60 plan is also getting unlimited calling to Mexico. The changes are effective February 20.AT&T's blog post says nothing about the other rumored changes, a new $30 plan and a data add-on for the $2 daily plan.Update 2/18/15: The new GoPhone plans are live in the system. AT&T's website hasn't been updated yet and is still showing the old plans. However:HowardForums Users are
the increased data amounts of 1.5 GB on the $45 plan and 4 GB on the $60 plan in their MyAT&T online dashboard&(images, below).&The new $30 plan is now available in the activation system for GoPhone dealers. Contrary to the original rumor, the $30 plan does not include any international calling.&The new $1 daily data pass add-on for $2 Daily plan is also listed in dealer activation system (image, bottom).I believe, but haven't been able to confirm, that the $40 500 minutes, 500 MB plan and the $25 250 minute monthly plan have been discontinued and are no longer available to new users.Click the images to view full size.Above Image: Related:
Today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, AT&T's& and
announced the ZTE Grand X Max+, a 6 inch phablet that will be available at Cricket Wireless stores and online beginning January 9 for $199.99.The new phone is a replacement for and upgrade from last year's ZTE Grand X Max which Cricket has been offering for the last six months at the same $199.99 price. Compared with its predecessor, the Max+ keeps the same overall dimensions, weight, six inch 720 x 1280 px screen, SD card slot and non-removable 3200 mAh battery. But just about everything else gets upgraded, the processor is now a Snapdragon 400 instead of a Snapdragon 200, there's twice the internal memory at 16 GB and double the RAM at 2 GB. The main camera gets bumped from 8 MP to 13 MP. The biggest upgrade is probably that the Max+, unlike the Max, supports LTE. ZTE didn't skimp on the bands either with support for bands 2, 4, 5 and 17 which is all of AT&T's LTE bands. It's cat 4 LTE too with a maximum theoretical speed of 150.8 Mbit/s although that won't do you much good as Cricket limits LTE speeds to a mere 8 Mbps.Other specs of the ZTE Grand X Max+ include:OS: Android 4.4CPU quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8926Internal memory 16
GB, 11.8 GB usableRAM: 2GBExternal memory: MicroSD slot supporting cards up to 32 GBCameras: 13 MB with 720p video capture, front 5 MPScreen 6" 720 x 1280 px TFTNetwork: GSM 850, 900,
M UMTS 850, 1900 M LTE b2, b4, b5, b17WiFi: 802.11 b,g,nBattery 3200 mAh non-removable with quick charge support and up to 6.5 hours talk timeDimensions: 6.38" x 3.27 x 0.31 in Width 3.27" Depth 0.31"Weight 6.06 oz.Hearing aid compatibility: M4, T4Software features: Dolby Audio, Sharecare's AskMDOther than a second-tier, but still very capable CPU and a bit less memory RAM and screen resolution, the Max+ packs specs that rival those of phablet flagships like the $825 Samsung Note 4. If you want a big phone without the big price tag, this might be the one for you.Source, image: Cricket Wireless via
AT&T's Cricket Wireless prepaid brand has extended its $100 Switcher Credit&until January 29. The offer, which was originally set to expire 12/31/2014, gives a $100 account credit to customers who port a T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, nTelos or Cincinnati Bell number to Cricket &and activate it a new line of service on a $40 or higher plan There's no limit to the number lines a customer can port and be eligible for the credit. The Switcher Credit can be combined with Cricket's Group Save program, which offers discounts fro multi-line accounts. The Group Save discount is $10 for the 2nd line, $30 for 3 lines, $60 for 4 lines and $100 for five lines. With Group Save five lines on the Cricket $40 "Basic" plan cost $100/month or $20 per line.Individual users can get a $5/month discount by signing up for autopay. The auto pay discount is not available with Group Save.The $100 account credit will be applied about 5 days before end of the customer's first month of service. Lines added to Group Save (multi-accounts 5 or fewer days before the end of a bill cycle will receive the credit during the following month of service. The $100 bill credit offer is available at Cricket stores nationwide and online.The following Cricket plans are eligible for the $100 Credit:Plan NameMonthly PriceHi-Speed Data Before Throttling&1Allowed devicesBasic$40 ($35 with autopay)1 GBAnySmart$50 ($45 with autopay)3 GBAnyPro$60 ($55 with autopay)10 GBAny1&High-Speed data is throttled to a maximum speed of 8 Mbps for LTE data and 4 Mbps for HSPA+. After the high-speed data cap is reached speed is further throttled to about 128 Kbps. Additional high-speed data is available for $10 for 1GB good for a month.Plan prices include all taxes and fees, including sales taxes. There's a $25 per line activation fee on in store activations, which includes a SIM. Online activation is free but SIMs are $10 online.Related:&
Prospective Cricket Wireless customers can now order
. The kits have been available at some Walmart stores for a couple of weeks but just appeared online today. They are priced at $9.88. There's no word on what size SIMs are contained in the kits but as they are described as "Universal" and being "compatible with most GSM devices", I'm guessing they contain all three common SIM mini, micro and nano.Cricket GSM SIMs have been available for $10
ever since AT&T took over Cricket in June so their arrival
doesn't open the online channel as it was already open. But it does mark a further move away from Cricket's traditional dealer model toward a more mass market approach. I can't imagine Cricket dealers are happy about having to compete with Walmart.The activation process with the Walmart SIMs is a little different than with SIMs .When you order a SIM directly from Cricket, you have to choose and pay for a rate plan at the time of the order. The SIM comes with a phone number assigned based on the zip code you entered when ordering. If you're porting a number, you also give Cricket your current provider's name, account number and passcode at the time of order. When the SIM arrives you still have to call Cricket or go online to activate it or start the port. Cricket only gives you 30 days after placing the order to start the activation process or the SIM becomes disabled. That means that you can't order a SIM and throw it in a drawer to use when you need AT&T coverage for a trip months latter. Having to give porting information before receiving the SIM also made some customers nervous as they were afraid that they would lose service with their old provider before they were up and running on Cricket.The activation process for the Walmart Cricket SIMs works the traditional way, you order a SIM without a rate plan and when you are ready to activate it you go to
and enter the SIM ID and phone IMEI, choose a plan and if you are porting, provide the account info for your previous provider'. Hopefully,
will adopt this more conventional approach to SIM sales.
AT&T GoPhone has quietly launched a new $55/month&US, Mexico & Canada Monthly Plan that lets you call Mexico and&Canada for 1?/minute.Even more interestingly, the new plan also includes international roaming in Canada and Mexico:Calls made within Canada and Mexico and calls from Canada and Mexico to the US and
are 1?/minute.&There's no charge for sending or receiving international SMS and MMS messages while roaming in Canada and Mexico.In other respects the new plan is identical to GoPhone's $45/month plan which includes unlimited domestic calling, unlimited domestic and
and unlimited data with the first 1GB per month at full speeds, and the rest throttled to 128 Kbps.The strange thing about this new plan is that it isn't mentioned on the main&. It's shown when you
on GoPhone (first image, click to view full-size) or for existing customers when
(images below). You need an unactivated AT&T SIM ID to see the plan on the activation page and an active GoPhone account to see it on the plan change page so the plan is essentially hidden from the general public. It's as if AT&T doesn't actually want anyone to use this plan!Source: AT&T Images:
As expected, &has added unlimited data to its $60/month smartphone plan. As before, the plan includes unlimited talk and text and 2.5 GB per month of high-speed data. Starting today, after the high-speed data is used up, unlimited throttled data is available for the rest of the plan month.The change is not a complete surprise thanks to a goof-up that had the GoPhone Website briefly showing .Last month's leak displayed the throttled speed as 512 Kbps. Today the
of the AT&T site shows the throttled speed as 128 Kbps. However AT&T's
lists it as 512 Kbps. I suspect the mobile site is wrong, but we can hope.The difference between 512 and 128 Kbps is significant. 512 Kbps provides decent Web browsing and is fast enough for non-HD video streaming. 128 Kbps is usable for email and slow web browsing but not much else. But until today, data was shut off after 2.5 GB was used. Even 128 Kbps data is better than no data at all. If you aren't happy with the throttle, additional high-speed data is available at $10 for 1 GB.The other change is that the formerly Walmart exclusive $45/month plan is now available to all and also gets unlimited data. The $45 plan includes unlimited talk and text and 1 GB of high speed data and unlimited throttled data after 1GB is used. Additional data on the $45 plan is a bit more pricey at $10 per 500MB.There are no changes to GoPhone's other plans. See PrepaidPhoneNews'& for details of all GoPone plans and services.Sources:
AT&T's&&brand has brought back its popular $100 credit for customers who port a number to Cricket from certain operators. For the first time, Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile customers are eligible for the credit.The $100 account credit is available to T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cincinnati Bell customers who transfer their number to Cricket between 11/14/2014 and 12/31/14 and activate a new line of service on a Basic, Smart or Pro rate plan. The $100 account credit will be applied approximately 5 days before end of first month's service period. Lines added to Group Save (multi-line) accounts 5 or fewer days before the end of a bill cycle will receive the credit during the following month of service. The $100 bill credit offer is available through December 31, 2014, at Cricket stores nationwide and online.There's no limit to the number lines a customer can port and the credit can be combined with Cricket's Group Save program, a family-style plan that offers discounts of $10 for the 2nd line, $30 for 3 lines, $60 for 4 lines and $100 for five lines. With Group Save five lines on the Cricket $40 "Basic" plan cost $100/month or $20 per line. Individual users can get a $5/month discount by signing up for autopay. The auto pay discount is not available with Group Save.The Cricket plans that are available with the $100 Credit are:Plan NameMonthly PriceHi-Speed Data Before Throttling&1Allowed devicesBasic$40 ($35 with autopay)1 GBAnySmart$50 ($45 with autopay)3 GBAnyPro$60 ($55 with autopay)10 GBAny1&High-Speed data is throttled to a maximum of 8 Mbps for LTE data and 4 Mbps for HSPA+. After the high-speed data cap is reached speed is further throttled to about 128 Kbps. Additional high-speed data is available for $10 for 1GB good for a month.Plan prices include all taxes and fees, even sales taxes. However there's a $25 per line fee to activate in store, which includes a SIM. Online activation is free but SIMs are $10 online.Cricket also announced some special holiday prices on new phones starting tomorrow 11/14:HTC Desire 510 LTE Android phone, Free after a $75.00 mail-in rebate (reg $149.99) at Cricket and GameStop stores and Nokia Lumia 635 LTE Windows Phone, Free after a $75.00 mail-in rebate (reg $99.99) at Cricket stores and&Motorola Moto G LTE Android phone $24.99 after a $75.00 mail-in rebate (reg $149.99) at Cricket stores and&Nokia Lumia 530 Windows Phone $29.99 (reg $49.99) at Cricket stores and&ZTE Sonata 4G Android phone $39.99 (reg $79.99) at Cricket Wireless and GameStop storesMotorola Moto E Android phone $49.88 at Select Walmart storesNokia Lumia 630 Windows Phone $49.99 (reg $99.99) at Cricket stores and&LG Optimus L70 Android phone $59.99 (reg $99.99) at Cricket stores and&Samsung Galaxy Express LTE Android phone $99.88 at Select Walmart storesZTE Grand X Android phone $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate (reg $149.99) at Cricket stores and&Nokia Lumia 1320 LTE Windows Phone $199.99 (reg $279.99) at Cricket stores and&Apple iPhone 5S 16GB $549.99 (reg $649.99) at Cricket Wireless storesApple iPhone 5C 16GB $449.99 (reg $549.99) at Cricket Wireless storesTo qualify for the rebates the customer must activate a new line of service and pay for service for at least two months to receive the rebate which is issued as a prepaid Visa debit card. The rebate card which expires after 150 days and can't be used cash withdrawals or at automated gas pumps.Cricket is also offering 3 months of Cricket International for free to Smart and Pro Plan customers who add the $5 feature between November 14, 2014 and January 8, 2015. The customer will receive a $5 bill credit to cover the cost of the add-on.Finally, Cricket is launching a $10 month Mexico roaming add-on that lets customers make and receive calls and texts when they travel within Mexico. Cricket's &announcing the offer doesn't specify if Mexican roaming is limited to a specific number of minutes and texts or if it's unlimited. I've contacted Cricket for clarification and will update this post when I hear back. Update: a Cricket spokesperson has confirmed that the $10/month add-on feature is called Cricket international roaming Mexico. and it includes 100 minutes and 100 texts per month while roaming in Mexico.Source:
The third quarter of 2014 was a pretty good one for US mobile operators. All four national carriers added subscribers:T-Mobile added 1.4 million postpaid, 411,000 prepaid, 333,000 MVNO and 222,000 M2M customers for a&total gain of 2.3 million customers&AT&T added 785,000 postpaid and 1,275,000 connected device subscribers but lost 140,000 prepaid customers for a total gain of 2.0 million subscribersVerizon added 1.52 million postpaid and 9,000 prepaid customers &for a&total gain of 1.53 millionSprint lost 272,000 postpaid customers and gained 35,000 prepaid and 827,000 wholesale customers for a total gain of 590 thousand customersVerizon and AT&T were profitable last quarter but T-Mobile and Sprint posted loses.Verizon made a $3.79 billion&AT&T reported a $3 billion profitT-Mobile lost $94 millionSprint lost $192 millionIn terms of total subscribers, Verizon is still the largest and T-Mobile the smallest. But if T-Mobile continues its rapid growth it's likely to pass Sprint into third place in number of subscribers sometime this quarter. Here's how the operators ranked by total subscribers at the end of the quarter:Verizon 125.5 million*AT&T 118.65 millionSprint 55 millionT-Mobile 52.9 million*Estimated. Verizon doesn't report wholesale and M2M subscribers numbers. Verizon reported 106.2 retail connections at the end or Q3, 2014. Industry analysts estimate that Verizon has approximately 125.5 million total subscribers, including wholesale and M2M connections.The number of prepaid customers increased after last quarter's decline. All the carriers except AT&T gained prepaid subscribers. AT&T's decline in prepaid makes me think it's having a tough time retaining the Cricket subscribers it gained when AT&T acquired Cricket earlier this year:T-Mobile added 411 thousand prepaid subscribersVerizon gained 9 thousandAT&T shed 140 thousand&Sprint added 35 thousand prepaid subsAmérica Móvil's Tracfone subsidiary, which operates under the Straight Talk, NET10, Tracfone, Simple Mobile, Page Plus, Telcel America and SafeLink Wireless brands, and is by far the largest prepaid MVNO gained 414 thousand subscribers last quarter.Total prepaid customers by carrier as of the end of last quarter were:Tracfone 25.9 million&T-Mobile 16 millionSprint 14.75 millionAT&T 11.2 millionVerizon 6 millionSources: , , , , Related:
in , , , , , ,
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