Tweet
Wal-Mart and T-Mobile USA said today that they would be jointly offering a new phone plan that caters to data and text-hungry customers.
The retail giant and wireless carrier will sell a no-contract $30 plan that includes unlimited Internet access, text messages, and 100 minutes for phone calls. After a customer exceeds their allotment of voice minutes, the charge is 10 cents a minute.
The new plan goes after a specific demographic of customers that no longer view their cellphone primarily as a tool for voice communications. Instead, they are more apt to uses text messages, instant messaging services, or social networks to get in touch with each other.
For Wal-Mart, it's a further expansion of its wireless product line-up, particularly on the prepaid side. T-Mobile, meanwhile, improves its relationship with a major retail partner as it looks for ways to make up for the loss of RadioShack. As part of the deal, T-Mobile will be widening its Wal-Mart line-up to six phones, including its first prepaid "4G" handset.
The offer, however, has some catches. While the plan has no overage charges, a customer will see their connection speed drop significantly once he hits the 5-gigabyte mark. It's practice known as throttling. The 5-gigabyte threshold is much higher than the 2-gigabyte benchmark other carriers have set.
And while T-Mobile is eager to talk up its 4G speeds, some in the industry call it more of a souped-up version of a 3G network. In some areas, its speed is comparable, if not faster, than the speeds offered by Sprint Nextel's 4G WiMax product.
T-Mobile, have continued to suffer through a massive loss in its contract customers, is attempting to stem the defection through more aggressive offers and a willingness to forgo long-term service contracts, which is where a bulk of the revenue is made. In the second quarter, it lost 50,000 net customers, but more than 280,000 contract customers.
The plan will be available in Wal-Mart's 2,200 stores and on T-Mobile and Wal-Mart's websites on October 16.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials
The retail giant and wireless carrier will sell a no-contract $30 plan that includes unlimited Internet access, text messages, and 100 minutes for phone calls. After a customer exceeds their allotment of voice minutes, the charge is 10 cents a minute.
The new plan goes after a specific demographic of customers that no longer view their cellphone primarily as a tool for voice communications. Instead, they are more apt to uses text messages, instant messaging services, or social networks to get in touch with each other.
For Wal-Mart, it's a further expansion of its wireless product line-up, particularly on the prepaid side. T-Mobile, meanwhile, improves its relationship with a major retail partner as it looks for ways to make up for the loss of RadioShack. As part of the deal, T-Mobile will be widening its Wal-Mart line-up to six phones, including its first prepaid "4G" handset.
The offer, however, has some catches. While the plan has no overage charges, a customer will see their connection speed drop significantly once he hits the 5-gigabyte mark. It's practice known as throttling. The 5-gigabyte threshold is much higher than the 2-gigabyte benchmark other carriers have set.
And while T-Mobile is eager to talk up its 4G speeds, some in the industry call it more of a souped-up version of a 3G network. In some areas, its speed is comparable, if not faster, than the speeds offered by Sprint Nextel's 4G WiMax product.
T-Mobile, have continued to suffer through a massive loss in its contract customers, is attempting to stem the defection through more aggressive offers and a willingness to forgo long-term service contracts, which is where a bulk of the revenue is made. In the second quarter, it lost 50,000 net customers, but more than 280,000 contract customers.
The plan will be available in Wal-Mart's 2,200 stores and on T-Mobile and Wal-Mart's websites on October 16.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials