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Tracfone, America’s No. 1 prepaid wireless company, has ben granted eligibility to use the Universal Service Fund in 10 states and Washington, D.C. While U.S. Cellular is using the USF to branch into rural areas, Tracfone plans to use it in low-income areas. Because of the limited revenue opportunities, carriers don’t put much emphasis on those networks. A new study shows that making cell phone service available in these areas can create potential streams of revenue.

Posted in Tracfone on April 14th, 2008
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Maybe you remember back in August, when we mentioned Tracfone suing mass-unlockers. (Thanks to TV, I can’t remember what happened eight minutes ago.) Tracfone filed a number of cases against people and operations that bought a whole mess of their phones, unlock them, and resell them at a profit. This is problematic, because for the most part they’re buying those cheap prepaid packages, where you get an old phone real cheap — below market value, actually. The company takes a hit on the phone with the hopes that they make up for it in airtime. Tracfone has won a suit against one such reseller, winning a $1 million decision in a federal district court.

Posted in Tracfone on March 11th, 2008
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You know, we never knew that Tracfone was even involved in that suit. We’re usually up on the doings of the MVNOs and true prepaid carriers — it’s the theme of the site, after all — and this is the first we’re hearing of a patent suit filed by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing. Apparently, they had issue with a few of Tracfone’s offerings in the “Wireless Service and Support” field of use…though we’re not exactly sure what that means. According to Trading Markets, this includes “customer service provided via automated systems and live agents.”

Posted in Tracfone on January 4th, 2008
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We’ll start the morning off by offering up a deal. If you’re thinking about going prepaid, this give you a good reason to. Tracfone is now offering double minutes for life, a $49.99 value, when you purchase a Motorola C139. The price on that: $14.99. Basically, you’d be $35 in the black. Buy a Motorola phone for $14.99 and get double minutes for life!

Posted in Tracfone on October 24th, 2007
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Ever since Tracfone started selling their prepaid services at our local Wal Mart, which was ages ago, we’ve been quite fascinated with the service. It was our first exposure to prepaid, and although at the time we had no idea how it worked, we thought it a novel concept. At that point, your phone choices were either AT&T or Verizon — T-Mobile and Sprint had the worst reception possible in our area, causing many of our friends’ phones an ill fate.

Posted in Consumer Issues, Tracfone on August 22nd, 2007
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Consumers everywhere rejoiced back in November when it was deemed legal to unlock your cell phone. True, it didn’t make the major breakthrough we were all hoping for — a truly open spectrum — but it was at least a concession that could aid consumers in one way or another. What we didn’t realize, though, was that Tracfone had filed suit against the man who ultimately made the decision, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. The company opined that Mr. Billington did not have the authority to make such an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA).

Posted in Tracfone on August 8th, 2007
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