Prepaid Reviews Blog » Mobile Data

When will prepaid carriers offer tablets?

Joe — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:41:08 +0000

At this point it’s only a matter of time before prepaid carriers start to offer their customers tablet computers. Many, if not most, prepaid carriers already offer smartphones, and tablets are the next logical progression from that. It could be coming sooner than you think, too. Cricket actually planned to offer its customers a tablet this year, but recently backed off the idea. That might not be a sign that it won’t work in general, but rather that the timing isn’t right. But that will change soon enough.

In order to justify a tablet offering, a prepaid carrier would have to realize a value-add from it. That is, it’s not enough to just allow people to buy certain tablets through them. Maybe they’d make a profit on the individual sale, but cellular carriers make almost all of their profit on monthly plans. To sell a WiFi-only tablet with no service plan, then, would prove a rough proposition. It also rules out prepaid carriers that don’t offer data services — or, in the case of carriers like Straight Talk, restricted data services.

Perhaps providers such as Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile, which have the direct backing of Sprint’s 3G network, can probably work out something. Both companies offer 3G smartphones, so they could probably work out some plan — perhaps in the form of a surcharge, as Boost recently implemented for Android phones — whereby customers could get the kind of data plan they need for a tablet. But true MVNOs probably couldn’t handle the additional data requirements of tablets.

Even Cricket didn’t plan to offer its tablet in conjunction with its 3G network. Instead it planned to upsell customers with a mobile broadband plan plus MiFi device. That sounds good in theory, since it’s essentially the same as having a direct 3G connection. But that’s another device to buy, which will turn off many cost-conscious prepaid users.

This could all change, of course, as many of these carriers switch over to LTE. Perhaps at that point Cricket would be willing to offer a tablet along with service. MetroPCS seems prime for an offering such as this, too. In fact, company officials have said that they’re looking at late 2012 as a time when devices such as smartphones and tablets will become available more cheaply. But without the bundled offering it’s difficult to imagine why a prepaid carrier would offer a tablet.

Another issue prepaid carriers face is the quality of tablets they could offer. Many postpaid carriers offer tablets with data plans, but as with smartphones those involve a subsidy. Since prepaid carriers don’t offer deep subsidies, they’d face the same issue they did with smartphones a few years ago. That is, they’d have a hard time getting their customers quality, low-cost devices.

There is something of a tablet overrun in the market, and maybe smaller carriers could use that to their advantages. For instance, there are likely many unsold Samsung Galaxy Tab units that a prepaid carrier could unload for a cheap cost. Opportunities like that could perhaps push up the time frame for tablets on prepaid carriers. But there are still other issues to overcome.

As we learned earlier this year, Cricket is near its 3G capacity and has reacted by backing off its mobile broadband offering. This is also perhaps why they’re choosing not to offer the tablet they had planned for this year. Issues like this will keep many smaller carriers from offering tablets. The answer might be 4G LTE networks, which could put MetroPCS at an advantage in the tablet market. But there are no guarantees there, either.

It seems pretty clear that prepaid carriers will again follow postpaid carriers into the realm of a new technology. Yet it doesn’t appear that will happen soon. There are just too many obstacles in the way at this point. But in due time, perhaps towards the end of 2012, we could see these smaller carriers catch up and start to offer low-cost tablets along with their mobile broadband services.

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Ready Wireless now available at Airport Wireless stores

Joe — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:30:21 +0000

Prepaid wireless broadband is expensive. It carries the convenience of access without a contract, but what you lack in commitment you make up for in price. We’ve seen a few competitive pricing plans, especially from Virgin Mobile, but for the most part the service comes at a high cost. Ready Mobile is no exception. As you can see on their review page, they charge $25 for 250MB, $45 for 600MB, and $75 for 1GB. Convenience, though, is the angle they’re taking. They recently announced distribution through Airport Wireless and Techshowcase, which will place them in 18 airports across the U.S. If there was ever a time I would break down and buy a USB modem and prepaid data plan, it’s while waiting in an airport for a delayed flight. Sounds like a good deal for them.

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for Tracfone Prepaid information on the web!

Forecast: Mobile phone transactions to hit $300 billion in 5 years

Joe — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:40:13 +0000

For those who are sick of hearing about the Virgin Mobile/Helio merger, we’ll start off the day with something else. For those who want more on the deal, it’ll come in a couple of hours. For now, we turn our attention to the mobile transaction market, which is rather slow in the U.S. now. Everyone I’ve talked to blames security concerns for the lack of mobile transaction growth. That should eventually be resolved, though, and analysts have put a number to the level it should hit by 2013: $300 billion.

Report author Howard Wilcox noted: “Merchants in North America and Western Europe are just starting to realise the potential of a mobile web presence as a fourth channel to market. Retailers should be evaluating the benefits of the mobile web, and be mindful of the success of regular ecommerce sites in generating sales. They need to move quickly to exploit the opportunity presented, and ensure that they maintain ease of use for their customers who are already familiar with web shopping from their PCs.”

With more and more prepaid carriers picking up mobile Web (we’re waiting for you, Page Plus), one has to wonder if these kinds of transactions will ever hit prepaid phones. I’m not sure it would fly right now, given the anonymity you get with a prepaid phone. Then again, with some states clamoring to require IDs for prepaid phone purchases, maybe it could work.

Many American still view mobile shopping with a skeptical eye. And unless someone or some company can do something to convince them otherwise, Juniper Research, authors of the report, might find that reality doesn’t match their forecast.

This post originated at PrepaidReviews.com - The number one resource for Tracfone Prepaid information on the web!

Anyone for prepaid wireless broadband?

Joe — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:30:27 +0000

One thing I’ve noticed lacking in prepaid is mobile data. A few carriers offer it — most notably Cricket. But for the most part, mobile data isn’t readily available on a prepaid basis. And forget mobile broadband cards for your laptop. Once again, we have Cricket here and few others. Thankfully, another player is entering the game. No, it’s not a prepaid carrier. Rather, it’s Slingshot Communications, and they’re planning a prepaid mobile broadband rollout in June.

“Rather than paying upwards of $75 a month for ‘unlimited’ wireless Internet access, Slingshot enables you to cut your costs and doesn’t require a long-term contract,” said David Vindici, chairman and CEO of Slingshot, in a statement. “You’re free to access the Internet wirelessly and on your terms.”

I can’t find specific pricing and availability right now. It’s an interesting concept, for sure. However, I’m a bit wary of what the rates will be. If ends up at the per-minute ratio of postpaid cellular to the per-minute rate of prepaid, well, then we might be onto something for the occasional mobile Internet user. Like me, who travels by train about once a week. I wouldn’t pony up for Verizon’s deal, but a pay as you go system would fit well.

Definitely more coverage on this as we get closer to the June 1 rollout date.

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100 Mbps wireless Internet on the way?

Stuart — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:15:04 +0000

Well, if you consider three years “on the way.” Nokia is working on the technology, which will eventually be adopted as the 4G standard in the U.S. Presumably, at least, since AT&T and Verizon seem to be going in that direction. However, Nokia isn’t standing firm on 2010; they’re saying the “2010 timeframe.” To disambiguate, that means anywhere from 2010 to 2015. We expect it to be closer to 2010, though. The faster the mobile Internet, the better the opportunities to monetize it.

[Broadband Reports]

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Qualcomm releases dual-mode laptop broadband card

Joe — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:00:22 +0000

Remember the days when you had to buy a USB WiFi card for your laptop? Clearly, those days are far behind us. The newest trend in external modems is broadband cellular cards, and even they are starting to move into the laptop’s shell. The problem is, though, that one card won’t power EV-DO technology — as used by Verizon and Sprint among others — and HSPA — as used by AT&T and T-Mobile. That makes laptop purchases that much more difficult. Qualcomm has a better idea. They’ve developed a card that uses both HSPA and EV-Do technology. So now laptop manufacturers can insert one card and not worry about alienating any potential customers.

“No one else makes a dual-mode 3G data card,” Sanjay Jha, chief operating officer and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Group. “With this Gobi technology, consumers don’t have to make a choice when they buy a laptop. They don’t have to worry whether they’re buying a Verizon laptop or a Sprint laptop.”

This development will not only allow consumers to make better choices, but it will also allow carriers to compete with the emerging WiMax network, which is a one-size-fits-all card, like it’s WiFi sister.

A dual-mode chip simplifies manufacturing. [Hewlett-Packard] and other computer companies will design and manufacture one version of each 3G laptop, Wagner said. That reduces manufacturing costs, which should result in savings that get passed on to consumers, he said.

So there is an added benefit for us consumers. We like lower prices. You do, too? We should be friends!

[San Diego on San Diego]

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The cell phone home security system

Joe — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:11:41 +0000

Among the things we love about cell phones are the ways they’re used outside of their intended functions. Remember the cell phone motion detector? Or how about the cell laser? We applaud the people who engineer these devices. And so today we salute the man who turned a cell phone into a home surveillance camera.

The Mobile LiveCam is 0.3-megapixel camera equipped with a SIM card, a built-in microphone and a 512MB memory card for recording video-streaming images, SingTel said in a statement.

In addition, the battery-operated camera is equipped with infrared video capabilities to better capture images in dimly lit spaces and at night.

Heh, 0.3 megapixels. “Honey! Someone is approaching! It’s either my mother or an amorphous blob. Should I call the cops?” (Insert unwitty husband joke here.)

The camera works on a 3G network, and can be access from another approved 3G phone. You can use the keypad on your phone to control the camera’s movements, and you access the images by dialing the camera’s assigned number. Sounds pretty easy to use.

The greatest part about this is that unlike the cell phone motion detector, this isn’t someone rigged up in their basement. This is a product offered by SingTel Mobile in Singapore. It costs about $6 per month for the service, and the device is $250.

All you’ll have to worry about is someone using the cell phone “laser” to disable the camera.

[CNET News]

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As expected, mobile data usage grows in U.S.

Joe — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:30:43 +0000

We live in an increasingly mobile world, baby, so it comes as no surprise that mobile data usage in the U.S. has grown significantly so far this year. The second quarter number — $5.85 billion — represents a seven percent increase over the first quarter of this year. For the year-to-date we’re at $11.35 billion, which is an 81 percent — yes, 81 percent — increase over the first half of 2006. Verizon is the leader in data, accounting for 31 percent of the industry’s data revenue in the second quarter. Undoubtedly, we’ll see further increase in the next quarter.

[Information Week]

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