Wal-Mart launches low-cost wireless plan; data still pricey

September 14, 2010 By Fahmida Y. Rashid

Crowding the already confusing array of wireless plans available, Wal-Mart has unveiled a low-cost wireless plan for its customers.

Despite the plethora of wireless plans already vying for our dollars, Wal-Mart launched a new plan that targets the low-to-middle-income families, its core customer base for the stores. Available only through T-Mobile, the Family Mobile service offers unlimited voice and text messaging for $45 a month for the first user. Additional lines will cost $25 total.

For a family of four, that’s $120 a month for unlimited voice and text messaging. That’s cheaper than what T-Mobile itself charges, and it’s significantly less than plans offered by other major carriers.

Lowering voice costs is not a bad idea, exactly, since wireless plans can get pretty pricey, such as the $99.99 charged by AT&T and Verizon for unlimited nationwide voice and by Sprint for unlimited voice and data. If you are looking for a family plan, the numbers shoot up even higher.

This is not Wal-Mart’s first foray into affordable wireless pricing. The retail superstore offers Straight Talk from Verizon and Common Cents from Sprint Nextel on its shelves. Straight Talk is also $45 a month, but does not support extra lines or family plans.

The catch is when data is added to the mix. AT&T and Verizon have $149.99 plans that offer unlimited data and voice. Wal-Mart chose the prepaid route for Family Mobile accounts, offering a free preloaded 100MB of WebPak internet access package upon activation. The package is shared amongst all the lines on the account, and ununsed data can be rolled over into the next month. To get more, however, customers will have to buy additional WebPak cards at $40 a gigabyte. Ouch.

Customers can sign up for Family Mobile right inside Wal-Mart, and can pick a phone from various manufacturers, including Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia. Starting from $35, customers can also upgrade their phone at any time. That’s a far cry from the $160 or so consumers often shell out for a new phone and being restricted to when they can upgrade. We would like to see what the phone selection is like before jumping on board, though.

Showing 3 comments

Becca at 2:17pm 18th October 2010 Virgin Mobile is offering a $25/mo. Beyond Talk plan that offers 300min talk + unlimited text + unlimited data. And even though they show 4-5 pricey phones in that plan (($90-250), you can go to the other plan (PayAsYouGo) and buy a cheap phone (cheapest: Jax costs $10 + free ship) and change it to the $25 Beyond Talk plan when the phone arrives. (they don't advertise this, but I just did it - no problem) Also offered: 1200min. + unlimited text + unlimited data for $40/mo., and UNLIMITED talk min. + unlimited text + unlimited data for $60mo. Downside: Outsourcing all their customer service calls to India, which I have found to be a bit problematic when setting up the phone. Super-Low cost makes it worth the hassle for me though.
Mark Krzmarzick at 12:41pm 18th October 2010 This sounds good to me. I was just wondering why someone hasn't done this very thing yet. Not everybody out here in the real world gives a hoot about data. I sure the heck don't feel like using my phone for anything except for calls and the occasional text, but with most of the big companies out there, the marketing and price structure is such that you pay a lot for any service, and then a bit more for this or that. (I am no idiot, I know that with a chat and text plan with these guys I am still paying for the costs to build and maintain 4gs of service which is way more than I need or want). Cheers to walmart for offering a plan that seems to charge a price for chat and text that is more in-line with the actual cost to maintain a network for chat and text.
Amy at 12:44am 18th October 2010 $40 per Gig? Ouch is right. I guess I'll stick with my T-Mobile for now.