Prepaid to grow 600% in the next year and a half
So we got a press release late yesterday regarding the growth and potential growth of the prepaid market. This, of course, please the hell out of us, since it’s tough to find news solely focused on the prepaid market. If we lived in Europe, it might be a different story. But in America, contract is king. We might not agree with it, but that’s simply the way it is. Most of this press release was information we know and perpetuate: no contracts, no commitments, potentially lower costs, etc. But there were some interesting numbers that we’d like to share with you after the jump.
As we mention in the title, prepaid is set to grow 600 percent, to 31 million, by the end of 2008. There are currently 137,000,000 wireless subscribers in the US, so this is still a fairly insignificant number — especially considering that there will likely be more wireless subscribers in total by that time. It’s still nice to know that we’re among, what, 5 million people right now, and that number is only growing.
Now, the Department of Homeland Security might start tracking us for saying this — god forbid we tout something foreign — but 80 percent of European cell phone users are on prepaid plans. Why? Because it’s simply more cost-effective, and allows you to jump ship if your provider gives you the cold shoulder.
“A monthly bill for something like a cell phone is becoming a severely outdated model,” said David Stanek, President & CEO of Airlink Mobile, a leading provider of prepaid wireless cards. “Prepaid is a cost-effective, pay-as-you-go solution that provides a concrete method for buying wireless minutes and using them as needed, without customers being burdened with expensive contracts.”
And it’s getting cheaper, which is only going to boost prepaid’s status in the US. Yeah, it may seem expensive from a quick glance, but we’re out to find the best deal that suits you.
We’re very anxious to see how the actual growth goes vs. the projection. If prepaid can make those kinds of gains by the end of 2008, we can see it making leaps and bounds by 2010.
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