Tracfone, Net10, and Straight Talk. They added 493,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2011, after adding 1.1 million subscribers in the same period in 2010. While the first and fourth quarters are typically better for wireless carriers than the second and third quarters, America Movil actually added more customers in Q3 2011, 515,000, than they did in Q4. Still, as a whole they did pretty well in 2011. Movil added about 2 million customers during the course of 2011, a big number for an MVNO. They ended the year with just under 20 million subscribers, which technically makes them America’s No. 5 wireless carrier. Typically MetroPCS gets that title, because they operate their own network. Regardless, they do not have quite so many subscribers as America Movil’s three services. Movil also saw a jump in average revenue per user, up $2 in 2011. That is, those 2 million customers were that much more valuable. Things could be looking up, too. One reason why Straight Talk, Net10, and Tracfone didn’t add quite as many subscribers in Q4 is that people were clamoring for smartphones. With the iPhone 4S and a number of new Android handsets selling big, Movil’s line of older, more cost-effective smartphones could have fallen flat. They are adding a number of Android phones in the future, including, reportedly, a high-end model that will run on HSPA+ from T-Mobile. This could be a big addition for them, and could make them more relevant in the smartphone game. That bodes well for a big 2012. Via FierceWireless.]]>
Posted in Tracfone
This company owns Straight Talk. Straight Talk has ripped me off repeatedly, lied to me, and provided the worst service I have ever had! So, I would stay far away from the parent company!
Mixed feelings here…while it would be great if Tracfone offered a better line up of handsets, by doing that, their monthly rates would no doubt have to be adjusted too, and at this point in my life, the cheaper, the better! One hopes that they don’t cave in to the smart phone hype, and loose sight of the fact that there are still many of us whose choice is governed by price.
Ey Linda speaks of a bad experience, but I for one have been with tracfone for many years, and have only ever had to phone customer services once. Another person I know also had a problem porting a number, but in that instance it was the time it took to port not the actual customer service that was lacking.
SCAM!!! We put in our second card (the first that did not come with the phone) and never recieved our minutes. We have spoken to customer service numerous times to no avail. We have jumped through hoops for them, getting codes from the phone, going to pay phones because they couldn’t check our phone with us on it, calling back repeatedly, and more. We have wasted what is left off the original set of minutes and are now without a phone, none of our new card has been added, we are out the money and left with nothing. We have tried online to add our phone so we could trouble shoot, but it is not excepting the serial number, saying it doesn’t exist. This is a sad excuse for a company and they should be ashamed of ripping off families like ours with no other means to get another phone. My husband recently became disabled and I’ve never worked and cannot get a job. We have nothing left. We should have 400 minutes on this horrible phone, but instead we have none and they will do nothing about it. They should be shut down. Never trust this company and spread the word!
@R family – It saddens me to hear your story, as it sounds like you really needed that service urgently, and coming away with nothing is unacceptable. I just thought I’d pass on something that could be valuable advice for your situation; when I signed up with Tracfone’s senior program(SVC), I was told by a couple of people, that should I ever have a problem needing sorting out, I should bypass the customer services, and go straight to their Facebook page. Apparently their response is speedy and helpful and you should see better results. Well, after a year with them, I haven’t had any problems, so have not tested the theory personally, but it’s worth giving a bash, cause if you can get things going, you will be rewarded with a really affordable service. I hope this is of some help, and you come right with your service.