Wal-Mart Introduces Its Branded Cell-Phone Plan
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it is introducing the first cell phone plan that uses the chain’s own branding. The plan is called “Family Mobile service “.
The Wal-Mart Family Mobile service is piggy-backed on T-Mobile USA’s network. Unlimited calling and texting will cost $45 per month for the first line and $25 for each additional (unlimited) line for the family. For data plan, each phone will come with an allowance of 100MB card known as a WebPak, which is shared among all lines on an account. Data does not expire, and refill cards can be purchased in Wal-Mart stores or online. The WebPak can also be used to make international calls at 5 cents per minute to any landline number in about a dozen countries. Users can also pre-pay additional $40 per GigaByte, which can be carried over month-to-month.
The service will be offered starting next week in most of its stores across the nation. The service is not a pre-paid plans, it is more as conventional contract-based plans with no contract requirement nor early termination fees.
Customers will be offered a choice of: 5 phones including the smartphone Android powered Motorola Cliq XT, which will cost $249. The cheapest phone for the service will be a simple Nokia phone for $35. The phones are locked under this plan. These initiatives are for mobile space, but speculatively, Wal-Mart could move to home phone space in the future.
[Via Yahoo News]
What this article does not say is that Walmart is already selling the best prepaid service. Straight Talk offers nationwide coverage for $45 a month for unlimited calls, texts and internet.
Hi Steve, this is a “post-paid” plan.
Will the sim cards be locked to the phones like some of the paid of services? Can you use the sim cards in other unlocked GSM phones?
David, the last statement indicates the phones are locked
Just found out they will activate any unlocked GSM phone for 25.00.
David, beware of T-Mobile special GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1900 MHz frequency-band and 1700/2100 MHz AWS Band for its 3G network
I think Straight Talk is still by far the best one out there. I have a really cool qwerty Samsung phone with unlimited minutes, text, and data for only $45 a month. I own a business, and trust me, it is a great asset. I tell all my clients about it because I am truly a believer. I’ve saved so much money with Straight Talk!
Yes for an individual plan Straight Talk is good but for the Family Plan you cannot beat the deal that Walmart is offering. The tools to manage other family members is a great step forward and it lets you control the features you need for children on your account. I switched from Boost Mobile and the savings will be huge for me with 5 lines.
The tools to manage other family members is a great step forward and it lets you control the features you need for children on your account. I switched from Boost Mobile and the savings will be huge for me with 5 lines.