WalMart To Launch Straight Talk Exclusively, Nationwide
No-Contract Wireless Plans Starting at $30 a Month
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (Oct. 14, 2009) – Dedicated to providing families affordable wireless solutions, WalMart (NYSE: WMT) announces today it will launch Straight Talk, a new solution in no-contract cellular, exclusively at more than 3,200 WalMart stores nationwide starting October 18, 2009. Straight Talk will bring to the market a new low price for no-contract wireless service with two prepaid plans now available to customers nationwide at $30 and $45 a month. Straight Talk will only be available in WalMart stores and online at www.Walmart.com and www.StraightTalk.com.
The average U.S. adult spends $78 on his or her cell phone bill to receive 1000 minutes a month.* By switching to the $30 Straight Talk plan, for example, the average 1,000 minutes-per-month consumer could save more than $500 per year and still be on a reliable nationwide network.
To help drive down no-contract wireless pricing for customers, WalMart will launch Straight Talk providing customers the following two options:
* Straight Talk “All You Need” 30-day Plan that includes the following for only $30 a month: o 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30MB of mobile web access o Nationwide coverage o 411 Information calls at no extra charge * Straight Talk’s Unlimited 30-day Plan that includes the following for $45 a month: o Unlimited minutes, unlimited text and unlimited mobile web access o Nationwide coverage o Unlimited 411 Information calls at no extra charge
"It has been very encouraging to see the excitement and response to the Straight Talk pilot in 234 stores that began last summer at WalMart,” said Greg Hall, vice president of Media Services, WalMart U.S. “In light of the savings customers continue to need, we have worked very quickly to extend this offering to all of our WalMart customers nationwide, and just before the holidays.”
Consumers may refill their monthly balances by buying refill cards at WalMart, or by registering online at www.Walmart.com or www.StraightTalk.com. Also available at WalMart are a range of Straight Talk phone products to suit different needs, from the entry-level LG 220 flip phone at $39.98, to the LG Slider 290 at $79.98 to the Samsung 451 QWERTY keyboard phone at $99.88.
wp746911 said: how do they do this? Do they have their own towers or does the FCC let (require) other cell companies to rent their networks?
It uses whatever towers tracfone uses.
ryandean
Member
posted: Oct. 15, 2009 @ 3:42p
I looked around a bit and it looks like tracfone uses both cdma and gsm. Is that correct? I really just want information on what phones coul be used on their network. Anyone have any experience with using another carrier's phone with tracfone?
it is such a low price it is worth trying for a month.
lnichols
New Member
posted: Oct. 15, 2009 @ 6:05p
still is cheaper to use page plus - 39.99 a month, unlimited text messaging and 20 mb of data and I have never lost service anywhere - I didn't have to buy a new phone either - some guy on eBay does the esn set up for 2 bucks, just search eBay for page plus and he comes up in the search - any cdma phone works for page plus... WalMart is a good deal, didn't mean to say it's not... but page plus makes me happy : )
A few limitations that might make or break this for you:
- Have to use one of their selected phones either via their website or WalMart - Data on these phones is not 3G speeds. HowardForums reports 1x speed - Verizon towers (most likely pre-paid coverage, YMMV) - Terms state that your phone will not roam.
Link to HowardForum discussion, oddly in their PagePlus section!
That said, this is a good deal either way because it will keep the pressure on prices DOWNWARD.
I'll post this here since the other thread is closed.
I am not really interested in relying on Wal-Mart for much in the service department. Let's see, how many businesses did they walk away from recently, Music, DVD mail rental... wanna add cell phone service to the list?
somebody either hates WalMart or has a hefty investment in one of the major cell phone companies. there's no contract, so, if there's any problems that WalMart can't handle, just walk away renee.
I'm much more excited about the competition that this brings to the market than I am about this particular service. It's a great deal, but no really cool phones to use all that data on. Will be interesting to see if Page Plus responds or if any of the contract carriers significantly drop their rates. I come out of contract with Verizon this month and have no intention of re-upping with them--not when something like this is out there. Will be interesting to see what comes between now and the first of the year.
if everyone's more excited about the competition than the actual service, then you all do realize that the competition will never be realized...
lnichols
New Member
posted: Oct. 16, 2009 @ 1:40a
Why is this so revolutionary? Page plus (40 dollars a month) and boost (50 dollars a month) have had comparable deals for a while... because it is WalMart? I don't even like to shop at WalMart, I sure would not want cell phone service from them... and just a queston, if it does not roam, does that mean when your out of their tower area you just have no service? What do you do in an emergency? And their phones are not current, who wants to use a phone that should have been (and probably are refurb from trade backs) discarded years ago... I don't think it's such a great deal - but I enjoy knowing that my cell phone bill is only 40 bucks, no extra taxes FCC charges no overage of minutes... and I can use a phone I like and already own.
lnichols said: Why is this so revolutionary? Page plus (40 dollars a month) and boost (50 dollars a month) have had comparable deals for a while... because it is WalMart? I don't even like to shop at WalMart, I sure would not want cell phone service from them... and just a queston, if it does not roam, does that mean when your out of their tower area you just have no service? What do you do in an emergency? And their phones are not current, who wants to use a phone that should have been (and probably are refurb from trade backs) discarded years ago... I don't think it's such a great deal - but I enjoy knowing that my cell phone bill is only 40 bucks, no extra taxes FCC charges no overage of minutes... and I can use a phone I like and already own.
The service is not revolutionary, but the carrier (Wal-Mart) is so huge that the impact to the telecom market is more significant than Page Plus or boost or Cricket. The industry must now respond to this. I haven't looked at the phones available with this plan, but if any of them have windows mobile then I know there is an easy registry hack that allows you to tether the phone without the carrier knowing.
jhburgess
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 16, 2009 @ 5:17a
Nessy said: I'll post this here since the other thread is closed.
I am not really interested in relying on Wal-Mart for much in the service department. Let's see, how many businesses did they walk away from recently, Music, DVD mail rental... wanna add cell phone service to the list? Wal-Mart doesn't operate the cell phone service - it is merely retailing the StraightTalk service from Tracfone. No different than what they do for Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.
The service is not revolutionary, but the carrier (Wal-Mart) is so huge that the impact to the telecom market is more significant than Page Plus or boost or Cricket. The industry must now respond to this.
The advantages that the major carriers will always have over prepaid is the family plan and phone selection... but after taxes, misc fees, $$ for unlimited texting per line, $10 per added line, this almost breaks even.
I can see this being popular with single adults, and teens who parents refuse to add them to their plan.
Ok... I'm really interested in this mainly b/c of something that happened at the AT&T store today (I told them my phone was suddenly running very slowly and without even inspecting it they told me my only option was to upgrade in two days...)
Anyways, I admit I don't know a lot about this stuff so I have a few questions (I would appreciate any answers you guys can offer): 1) If I have a Miami phone number, but I'm living in MS and registered in MS what counts as roaming? Anytime I leave north MS? Or anytime I place a call when I'm not in Miami? Or will a call from either place not count as roaming? *edit- the only mention I've found on the website about roaming refers to calling when abroad*
2) There has to be a way around using their selected phones. Can I buy another CDMA phone??
NQBN2PROFIT
New Member
posted: Oct. 21, 2009 @ 8:42p
It would be great if these prepaid companies let you open up an account and have funds in it, so you don't have to manually reload with a card each month. What a pain to have to do each month! Any way around this, or is there a company that actually let you do this?
NQBN2PROFIT said: It would be great if these prepaid companies let you open up an account and have funds in it, so you don't have to manually reload with a card each month. What a pain to have to do each month! Any way around this, or is there a company that actually let you do this?T-Mobile Prepaid lets you load hundreds of bucks at once if you want. $0.10 per minute air time once you hit $100 in balance, sounds like it should be no problem for you. $0.10 to send a text, $0.05 to receive a text.
lnichols said: Why is this so revolutionary? Page plus (40 dollars a month) and boost (50 dollars a month) have had comparable deals for a while... because it is WalMart? I don't even like to shop at WalMart, I sure would not want cell phone service from them... and just a queston, if it does not roam, does that mean when your out of their tower area you just have no service? What do you do in an emergency? And their phones are not current, who wants to use a phone that should have been (and probably are refurb from trade backs) discarded years ago... I don't think it's such a great deal - but I enjoy knowing that my cell phone bill is only 40 bucks, no extra taxes FCC charges no overage of minutes... and I can use a phone I like and already own.
FCC requires all carriers to connect 911 calls, whether roaming or not or whether you have paid your bill or not. Even if you have an unactivated phone, and you dial 911, the call will go through.
The Samsung R451C is the same as the R450, and a nice phone, especially for texting, but man...have you checked out the SAR rating on the thing? May as well place a hot frying pan next to your ear. 1.4X or so is pretty outrageous. If Straight Talk were to get some better phones, then I'd certainly consider it, as it is a deal for the $30 or $45 plans.
Straight Talk is a Tracfone company. Available exclusively at WalMart, WalMart.com, Straighttalk.com & Straight talk affiliates. You have to buy their phones, new ones are available as of last Sunday. It uses the Verizon network. Tracfone's (straighttalk) Verizon usage is the same as contract customers, not the prepaid coverage. Roaming? When it comes to cdma coverage Verizon is almost everywhere and Tracfone's cdma phones on Verizon do roam to Alltel.
Boost doesn't compare because it uses the sprint network and DOES NOT ROAM. Page Plus uses the same Verizon network and you are not limited to just a few phones. Use any verizon phone on page plus. You can even use the straightalk phones on page plus. Page plus may be better but not quite as extensive of coverage as straighttalk.
Oh yeah I think we'll be seeing other companies prices plunge to compete. And my contract is over is 3 months. Woo Hoo
ThursdaysChild
Missed.
posted: Oct. 28, 2009 @ 7:57p
MsJAP said: Ok... I'm really interested in this mainly b/c of something that happened at the AT&T store today (I told them my phone was suddenly running very slowly and without even inspecting it they told me my only option was to upgrade in two days...)
Anyways, I admit I don't know a lot about this stuff so I have a few questions (I would appreciate any answers you guys can offer): 1) If I have a Miami phone number, but I'm living in MS and registered in MS what counts as roaming? Anytime I leave north MS? Or anytime I place a call when I'm not in Miami? Or will a call from either place not count as roaming? *edit- the only mention I've found on the website about roaming refers to calling when abroad*
2) There has to be a way around using their selected phones. Can I buy another CDMA phone?? FCC description of roaming about halfway down the page.
Vorpal
Member
posted: Oct. 30, 2009 @ 10:46a
lnichols said: because it is WalMart? I don't even like to shop at WalMart, I sure would not want cell phone service from them...
Why wouldn't you like to shop at WalMart? Lower prices and a larger selection of electronics/groceries than Target, in my opinion.
WalMart is great. They've probably done more to increase the purchasing power of those with low incomes than any other company.
I hope their plan causes some competitive turmoil in the cell phone industry.
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