The Rise of Wal-Mart Wireless

We try to keep up with the lowest-priced plans with the highest data allowance at each price point on our Moose Wireless Plan Page.  Recently we changed the listing for the best $40 price plan available to the one offered by Wal-Mart Family Mobile.  The Wal-Mart plan offers all the usual Unlimited goodies but the data threshold is a generous 2.5 Gb, 150% higher than its precessor.  Also, Wal-Mart Mobile lets you bring your own GSM phone and, while there's no contract, billing is postpaid...not prepaid.

Wal-Mart's wireless uses the T-Mobile network and they offer a handful of basic Smart and Feature phones in addition to their SIM package.  Of course you might be able to head to the nearest Wal-Mart and sign up for this service but you can also do it in your jammies at our own Moose Wireless.  It's a good deal for the price and handily beats T-Mobile's own $40 plan that only offers a 500 Mb threshold.  We expect to make a few other changes as providers offer more data for your money...a welcome change, especially at these low price levels.

Plateau Wireless: The Next to Fall

Plateau Wireless of eastern New Mexico has agreed to sell their network, licenses and customers to AT&T.  Plateau has very good coverage and for current customers, service will probably get better.  While wireless under AT&T will be a bit more convenient, local users will lose any 'bundle' discounts with the local telephone companies' other services.

AT&T previously had very poor coverage in New Mexico and this, along with their Alltel acquisition, improves coverage significantly.  This is fairly unpopulated territory but it includes some I-40 and I-25 coverage.  Plateau's associated telephone cooperatives will continue to offer their other communications services and will probably do it better with a little AT&T money in their pockets.

More in The Wireless Graveyard

Recently lost: Long Lines Wireless in Iowa, Airfire Mobile in Wisconsin and Allwest Wireless in Utah.  Only the Long Lines network will remain intact and their customers will be switched over to AT&T.  These carriers are small enough to disappear with little notice.   They lived near the middle of our Mountain Wireless Ratings and their loss will probably only be symbolic.

Sadly, the loss of T-Mobile moved one step closer to reality today unless common sense prevails in Washington.  Common sense? That's not likely, but it has happened before when they denied the AT&T/T-Mobile combination.  All Sprint needs is more spectrum and it seems to be coming available in bits and pieces, it's just in markets too small to help out.  We can just hope.

Don't Look Behind the Curtain

The curtain is the one that revealed the Wizard of Oz wasn't so wizard-ly after all.  In our case, if you find a good bargain in wireless, don't mess with it.  Today's biggest bargains are found by switching from one of the main carriers' plans to one of the bargain prepaid operators.  You could save as much as 50%.  This is a big deal when your monthly bill goes from, say, $90 to $45.  Be aware, these bargains come at a price.

Savings come from dealing with these companies in the cheapest way possible, either online or with offshore customer service.  Sometimes you need to ignore the little annoyances, including the ones that cost a few dollars.  One reader shared his story about dealing with one of the America Movil companies.  He was thrilled to have a big gob of Data for, say, $45 per month, and all the Talk & Text he could eat, only to be surprised that taxes were added.  Now he's closer to $50 per month.  He then took advantage of a $2.50 discount for Auto-Pay and found himself paying closer to the expected $45 per month.

Our friend then bought a new phone and found out it took a different size SIM.  He wasn't too put off about having to PAY for a new SIM, but later he found he was charged for "FREE" Shipping.  He called to complain and the carrier was happy to credit his account by adding one week of service.  He thought that was a good deal until he was notified that his Auto-Pay took place on the old date.  He called back to have them correct the Auto-Pay date which they were happy to adjust.

So far, so good, right?  Nope. When you change the Auto-Pay date you lose the $2.50 Auto-Pay discount.  That was a "promotion".  Our boy realizes dealing with the "alternative" carriers is different than dealing with the major carriers.  Getting a bargain does have a few "costs".  Just don't look behind the curtain.  Come Toto.

America Movil and AT&T to Part Ways

The back story behind the AT&T/DirecTV merger is that if the combination is approved, AT&T becomes a new competitor to America Movil in Latin America.  AT&T executives have already resigned from the America Movil Board of Directors, and AT&T has placed their ownership in America Movil up for sale. This could also directly affect US wireless customers.

Any changes would be slowed by existing contracts, but let's look at what could happen with America Movil and AT&T no longer giving each other favorable treatment:

• America Movil may need to pay higher roaming fees to use the AT&T network which may require higher prices, or reductions in features or data limits for US users, or potentially roaming available in fewer areas.  Remember, Straight Talk, NET10 and TracFone have no US network of their own.
• AT&T customers may no longer have preferential roaming abilities in America Movil areas in Mexico and other Latin American countries, most notably our favorite deal of .25/minute Mexico roaming on AT&T GoPhone.
• T-Mobile may rise to become the roaming leader in these Latin American countries, either with existing deals made outside of America Movil or with new deals that may offer greater competition to AT&T.

Of course, none of these changes may occur.  There are millions of dollars at stake and all of these companies may need to maintain the status quo to survive in a falling-rate environment.  Indeed, the sky may not be falling.

Cellular One in Montana Shuts Down

A sharp-eyed reader in Montana has reported that Cellular One (MTPCS) of Montana has decided to discontinue service as of the end of July, 2014.   This leaves some rural properties still being operated by this Cellular One in Lousiana and Texas, and the Broadpoint network in the Gulf of Mexico.  As with many shrinking local operators, Cellular One couldn't find a buyer for their network or their spectrum.  AT&T will offer some discounts for Cellular One switchers and they also offer superior coverage on the old Alltel network.

Over the years we have been checking in with Cellular One to see if we could update our Montana coverage maps and found indeed, none of the areas shown as "future coverage" ever materialized.  Also, Cellular One's Rating slips down a notch due to their need to roam on other networks for urban coverage.

It's also a shame that no other operator will step in take over the network.  Even at "free" the network must be too expensive to operate.  I'm sure we will hear more stories like this.

Lower, Low-End Data Plans

Recently we modified the Mountain Unlimited Web Site to report the cheapest Smart Phone plans, arranged by price, showing the largest amount of Data available at that price level.  As the carriers themselves have improved the price levels of their Data plans, so have the Prepaid re-sellers.  One of the most surprising changes comes from Red Pocket Mobile who is now offering a $10 per 30 days Data plan that includes Unlimited Talk & Text and a whopping 1GB of 4G data before your download rate is throttled to presumably 2G speeds.

Red Pocket seems be using the T-Mobile network to provide this new Data offering and we hope it causes other Prepaids to follow.  It's odd to now see fewer minutes or tighter restrictions for plans at higher price levels, but we expect that to change.  Innovation should bring us even lower prices.

Who thought we would see plans as low as $5 per month?  You might say some of these cheap plans depend on wi-fi for data delivery, but Comcast just recently said that is precisely how they will deliver their own wireless network in competition with the largest wireless carriers.  

More Good Guys Give Up

Add 2 more wireless operators who are selling out to the big carriers.  Earlier this month we were saddened to see that one of our Top-Rated wireless carriers, Cincinnati Bell Wireless, was selling their spectrum to Verizon Wireless.  This week another pair of carriers who live at the top our Ratings, Golden State Cellular of California and Mobi PCS in Hawaii, have decided to give up their wireless operations.

Golden State will give up network, spectrum and customers to Verizon Wireless and Mobi will give up their spectrum.  In Mobi's case they will keep operating for a longer transition period, presumably to give their customers (read neighbors) a better choice in where to eventually take their wireless business.

With the loss of a #8, #9, and #10 rated carrier from our Ratings List, we may either need to adjust the now shorter list to give some carriers a better position, or light a candle for the carriers that remain in the top spots lamenting their impeding demise.