“Wal-Mart offering rings a bell with local cell callers” |
| Wal-Mart offering rings a bell with local cell callers Posted: 28 Sep 2010 01:59 PM PDT | Article published September 28, 2010 Wal-Mart offering rings a bell with local cell callers A new cell-phone plan being offered by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is attracting the attention of local shoppers who want to talk and text without signing a contract.The retailer introduced Walmart Family Mobile cell phone service last week at 2,500 stores nationwide, including locations in metropolitan Toledo.The plan offers one line of service for $45 a month with no contract. Each additional line is $25 a month. The cost of the phone is extra.The new plan caught the interest of Henrietta Powell, a Toledo resident who works in the University of Toledo's building services department.The phone she saw at the chain's Sylvania Township store may be ideal for her 16-year-old granddaughter, she said."I like it for her with the text- ing," said Ms. Powell, who has a cell-phone contract with Sprint. She is part of an increasingly popular movement. The alternatives to traditional contract plans offered by the big cellular carriers, such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint, are prepaid cell phones or no-contract monthly plans. About 58 million no-contract cell phones were in use last year, making up about 20 percent of all domestic mobile devices, according to the CTIA-The Wireless Association trade group. Two years earlier, 35 million prepaid devices, accounting for 15 percent of the U.S. market, were in use.Prepaid cell-phone revenues reached close to $13.9 billion of the $155 billion for all cell-phone services in 2009, according to CTIA.Among the carriers that offer no-contract phones are NET10, Virgin Mobile, AT&T GoPhone, Metro PCS, and Boost Mobile.Walmart's new phone service competes directly with Straight Talk, a no-contract cell phone sold exclusively at Walmart stores. Straight Talk's unlimited talking and texting plan sells for $45 a month, regardless of the number of phones in a household. That plan also includes unlimited Web access for no additional charge.The $45 Straight Talk plan has been "going gangbusters" with local shoppers, said Kelly Keopp-linger, department manager in the electronics and connection center at the Sylvania Township store.She said the phones seem to be popular with young people who want unlimited texting and Internet access.Straight Talk phones, which began selling at Walmart a year ago, range from $74.99 to $154.99 with a 30-day unlimited service plan, according to the company's Web site. Walmart-branded phones at the Sylvania Township store range in price from $34.96 to $249.Walmart, which also carries an exclusive prepaid cell phone brand called Common Cents, declined an interview. TracFone Wireless Inc., the Miami-based company that owns Straight Talk, did not respond to requests for comment.Amy Storey of CTIA said no-contract phones allow people to control the cost of their cell-phone services without worrying about overage fees. The phones are a popular choice for people who want to manage phone costs for their children.People who buy prepaid phones typically pay more per minute than those who use contract plans, she said. They also have a limited selection of phones compared with higher-end phones that can be bought for a discount with contracts.Still, increased consumer satisfaction with no-contract phones has allowed that segment of the cell-phone industry to grow.A study released by J.D. Power and Associates last month showed that customers are responding positively to aggressive pricing as well as to new services and phone offerings.Contact Sheena Harrison at: sharrison@theblade.com or 419-724-6103. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment