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There was a time when the major carriers didn’t care much about their prepaid divisions. This is part of the reason carriers didn’t so much mind leasing wholesale minutes to MVNOs. They filled a niche that the nationwide carriers could not afford to focus on. Something happened last year, though. The big carriers started to take better care of their prepaid divisions. We’ve seen each of the Big Four improve their prepaid offerings. Combined with their nationwide coverage, this is helping them outshine the little guys.

Posted in Prepaid Services on May 8th, 2008
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So CTIA 2008 has officially come to an end. It was an enormous, comprehensive show. I learned a ton from it, both from the seminars they offered and from talking to people at various booths among both of the massive expo floors. What I didn’t see, though, was a ton of prepaid-related stuff. I did meet with the folks from Leap Wireless, who were kind and informative, as always. But overall, I was left wondering where the prepaid representation was.

Posted in Prepaid Services on April 4th, 2008
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Originally, I posted a teaser for a report on how cell phones can empower poor families and individuals, because it includes a survey comprising 110,000 prepaid users. Still, it’s intriguing. The study was released yesterday, with some impressive results. By giving cell phones to 38 percent of the 45 million poorest Americans, we could help them “get work or make money worth $2.9-$11 billion.” What I’m wondering, though, is how that’s going to happen.

Posted in Prepaid Services on March 27th, 2008
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Ever hear of the Universal Service Fund? It was created back in 1996, before we saw the widespread use of cell phones. The idea behind it was to ensure that rural areas have modern telecommunications infrastructure available to them. I’ll quote to elaborate: “All telecommunications companies, as well as long distance companies, local telephone companies, and wireless carriers, proving interstate services contribute to the fund (most often as a line item charge on customers’ phone bills).” So it’s a bit of a social program to ensure that companies have an incentive (since there isn’t much of one in terms of profit) to build out infrastructures in lesser-populated regions of the country. U.S. Cellular is taking advantage of this in their efforts to move into West Virginia.

Posted in Prepaid Services on March 6th, 2008
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It seems you always have to watch your back as a wireless carrier. You never know when someone’s going to hit you with a patent infringement lawsuit. The latest one involves four companies that we feature here on the Prepaid Reviews blog: T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Virgin Mobile, and Helio. The suit is in regards to a wireless image-messaging technology that is reportedly patented by Daniel Henderson of Intellect Wireless.

Posted in Prepaid Services on March 6th, 2008
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If you just glanced at the numbers, you might think that U.S. Cellular is in trouble. They posted their fourth quarter earnings late last week, which amounted to $29.2 million. This wouldn’t be an enormous problem if they hadn’t brought in $54.1 million in the same period a year ago. So why did U.S. Cellular drop so precipitously during the period of the year when most cellular carriers see spikes in sales?

Posted in Prepaid Services on March 3rd, 2008
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Phoenix, Arizona is a budding place for new businesses. As more and more information services pop up, we’re finding our businesses increasingly reliant on computers. And not just of the personal or networked type. We’re talking huge servers containing valuable information. Problem is, when natural disasters strike, companies risk losing everything. They see Phoenix as a place with relatively consistent weather, leaving them less susceptible to the elements. TeleSphere, a company specializing in Internet phone service, is one of those companies, though they still have a warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Earlier this month, a tornado hit the city — and a fire ignited during clean-up. But the company stayed connected the entire time, thanks to prepaid phones.

Posted in Prepaid Services on February 28th, 2008
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I’ve said it before: If there’s a cell phone story that relates to baseball, you’ll certainly find it here. It’s an odd combination, but it does come up every once in a while. Like last year, when Verizon partnered with the Yankees to combat domestic violence. The story today involves U.S. Cellular , who will sponsor the Milwaukee Brewers, becoming the exclusive wireless provider for the team. Of course, the players themselves won’t be switching wireless companies, but you can be sure to see plenty of advertising around Miller Park this year.

Posted in Prepaid Services on February 28th, 2008
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When we look at the week of February 18, 2008, it will be the week of unlimited. First it was Verizon, then AT&T and T-Mobile, all offering plans starting at $99. And then it was rumors that Sprint would undercut them all at $60 — though that is denied by the company (did you expect anything else?). So we’ve heard Cricket and MetroPCS mentioned a lot this week. Now another prepaid carrier is coming to the party: U.S. Cellular. They’ll soon begin offering a $99 unlimited calling plan.

Posted in Prepaid Services on February 22nd, 2008
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The big news in the cellular world is that Verizon and Sprint are offering flat-rate, unlimited calling plans. Verizon’s start at $99.99 per month, and range up to $139.99, with a $119.99 intermediary that covers unlimited calling and unlimited messaging. Sprint just has the $119.99 plan, and it does include the unlimited messaging. So what are Cricket and Metro going to do now that they have competition from the No. 2 and 3 carriers in the nation?

Posted in Prepaid Services on February 19th, 2008
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