October 12, 2020                                                CATEGORY: WIRELESS NEWS

Verizon goes from worst to first in prepaid with Tracfone acquisition

(From our friends at FIERCE WIRELESS)

As 2020 dawned, Verizon was in last place among the four national carriers in terms of prepaid with only four million subscribers, Verizon prepaid ranks well behind T-Mobile, Tracfone, AT&T, and even Dish Network, which operates Boost Mobile.  Not only that, most carriers have been gaining prepaid customers while Verizon has been losing customers at a rapid pace.

But Verizon is set to acquire Tracfone in a deal valued at up to $6.9 billion, as detailed by FierceWireless on September 14.

Why is Verizon buying Tracfone?

{READ MORE}.

June 18, 2020                                                  CATEGORY: PREPAID

Big Changes Happening for 3 Big Brands will directly affect their loyal dealers

There are big things happening in the PREPAID world. Metro by T-Mobile (formerly Metro PCS) Mobile announced in early April that they are terminating ALL their non-exclusive dealers contracts, estimated to be as many as 750 dealers. Then, just a few weeks later, the buzz is that they will be terminating as many as 2,000 of their exclusive dealers too, forcing some to rebrand to T-Mobile or simply withdraw from dealership entirely (see sources below)

AND recently AT&T announced the imminent closure of an "unspecified" number of Cricket Wireless stores. (see sources below)

There are also rumors of Boost Mobile streamlining it's store footprint in the near future. Boost is already becoming unstable as it is being used as a pawn in the giant Sprint/T-Mobile merger, where Dish Network is supposed to buy them - as per the SEC deal specifications - and who knows what Dish's plans will be for Boost? Dish has their own spectrum of bandwidth to utilize, so that's all good, but Dish has never been in the PPW game before. Will they run their acquired Boost brand

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May 27, 2020                                                  CATEGORY: PREPAID

Net10 Wireless Updates Hotspot Data Included in Its Plans

Featured in PrepaidPhoneNews.com  May 25, 2020

Good news to all Net10 users.

It looks like the MVNO has improved its data allotment on its hotspot data.

With the new changes, Net10's hotspot plans now offer these:

• $10 for 30 days - includes 1GB of hotspot data (previously 500MB only for 14 days)
• $20 for 30 days - includes 2GB of hotspot data (previously 1GB only for 30 days)

https://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2020/05/net10-wireless-updates-hotspot-data.html

April 27, 2020                                         CATEGORY: PREPAID

Wave7 Independent Dealer Survey Results Tell A Lot About What's Happening in Prepaid Today.

Earlier this month, our friends at PrepaidPhoneNews.com reported on a research study released by industry research firm, Wave7. In it Wave7 Principal, Jeff Young, says that these results are that of its Independent Prepaid Dealer Survey for Q1 2020. The survey tracked prepaid brand distribution and sales at 30 independent, multi-brand dealers in 12 NFL cities. Dealers were asked which prepaid brands they carry and which were their top sellers.

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April 14, 2020                                                        CATEGORY: COVID-19, PREPAID

TRACFONE brands announces COVID-19 crisis enhancements to existing customer plans

TRACFONE, the long time leader in the prepaid wireless business (in fact some say that Tracfone invented prepaid wireless, but that's another story for another time), have announced generous bonus data to all their existing brands, plans and customers.

Truth be told most wireless brands have added benefits in the form of free international calling, or data allotment increases, or hot spot limits increases. The wireless industry a s a whole really has a great appreciation for how customers rely on the service and especially in this time of social distancing, when you can't visit friends and family in person, staying connected through...

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April 13, 2020                                                                      CATEGORY: HANDSETS

The pending release of iPhone 12 is still shrouded in mystery.

This shouldn't be a surprise to most people that have been living on the planet Earth. Apple loves to hold back details, keep secrets, build suspense - will they, won't they, will it be, will it do this, will it do that? Most of us right now are only asking one question, WHEN??

Here's what we know and don't know about the iPhone 12 and it's release:

It MAY be released sometime in the Fall of 2020. Although that may be affected by the COVID-19 crisis as it affected business and workers in China and the US. Apple has not provided any clarity on this, but many experts are chiming in with a notable wish-wash and saying "maybe". Really instills a lot of confidence doesn't it? ...

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APRIL 6, 2020                                                                        CATEGORY: PREPAID

The Prepaid Wireless Industry is about to change for some Independent Dealers

Non-Exclusive dealers of Metro by T-Mobile are about to find out that they can no longer represent or sell this brand.

In a release by the NWIDA (National Wireless Independent Dealer Association) on April 4, 2020, They released

"We have confirmed, from multiple sources, that Metro by T-Mobile has, in fact, terminated all non-exclusive stores. We believe this is between 250-750 stores (we’re still getting information in) and they have been given 120 day termination notice. This should mean that these stores WON’T close, only that they will no longer be allowed to sell Metro by T-Mobile."

..... {READ MORE}