Page Plus Cellular today officially increased its popular $39.99 Unlimited Talk n’ Text plan to 100 MB of data. The plan includes unlimited voice and text messages, and previously included 20 MB of data.
Many PhoneNews.com readers are aware that Page Plus Cellular is one of the only prepaid networks that both uses Verizon Wireless for service, and in addition allows activation of Verizon Wireless 3G devices. The MVNO supports most CDMA Verizon Wireless smartphones, with the exceptions of BlackBerry and iPhone.
In fact, Verizon Wireless’s superior coverage may be one of the key features holding up Page Plus Cellular. While Page Plus was the first to innovate $50 and $60 unlimited voice-and-text plans, the MVNO now faces a different competitive landscape. MVNO rivals TracFone and Simple Mobile both now agressively compete in this arena. TracFone leverages its Straight Talk and Net10 brands to offer competitive price points across AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks. In fact, TracFone’s recent developments now permit AT&T and T-Mobile locked devices, including iPhone, to be activated on their $45/month unlimited plans. TracFone also offers Sprint Android devices, and Simple Mobile has been touting its “SIM Revolution” on T-Mobile’s network.
Page Plus Cellular’s pricing arguably is not competitive anymore, but there are several areas that the tech-savvy miss in that analysis. Page Plus has always made its mainstay customer the economically disadvantaged… that’s PC-speak for the poor. The tech-savvy revolution of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was somewhat of a surprise to Page Plus management, who mostly expected traffic from poor customers looking for a way to cut costs, and keep using their Verizon feature phone.
In those markets, Page Plus remains competitive. The carrier now offers a cheap, $12/month plan that offers 250 voice minutes. And, Page Plus has also flexed a bit in the data-hungry department, offering is current $55 unlimited voice-and-text plan with 1 GB of data. That plan appeals the most to customers who want a prepaid smartphone, but have no other options than Verizon Wireless coverage.
It’s not clear what Page Plus’s next move will be. Verizon and Page Plus do not allow LTE devices on the network, though some have managed to activate them by hacking phones to disable the LTE portion. It’s possible that in the face of AT&T and T-Mobile agreesively permitting SIM-locked devices onto TracFone’s MVNO networks, that Verizon may allow the same on Page Plus LTE. However, considering Page Plus’s core audience remains economically unable to purchase LTE phones in large part, it isn’t likely to happen any time soon.
Article has been corrected to state the proper Page Plus plan. While the price-point listed in the article was correct, the name of the plan mentioned was not. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Hello everyone, we have reset the comments for this article due to an unusual circumstance. Page Plus Cellular has contacted us by phone and apologized for some comments that all sides agree should not have been posted in public view. Page Plus Cellular has agreed to work with us in the future, and we appreciate their spirit of cooperation going forward.
Wow. That was real. Anyway, I think they need to up the data on all of there plans. $29 plan should have at least 300mb of data, but 500 would be great.
I can’t believe that pageplus doesn’t have 50 million customers, well i suppose i know why, but Wow, their service is awesome.
I didn’t read this before you censored the comments, but I hope someone pointed out your arrogant, classist ASSumption that most PP customers are “economically disadvantaged.” What an utterly douchetastic thing to say, and it reveals much about you and your prejudices.
There are some of us who see no reason to overpay Big Red for the same cellular service (or better)- that’s just good economic sense, no matter your income level.
This is my first and last time reading your “blog”. What a waste of my time!
Page Plus needs a second $29 plan that caters to the people that need more data.
Something like 500 voice minutes, 500 mb of data 2000 texts. Or 300 minutes, 1gb of data. 1500 texts.
I must admit, I had wondered what Page Plus’ drawing card was, with them offering plans that weren’t the most competitive next to the likes of Tracfone’s ST’s unlimited plans. Makes more sense to me now-thanks.
Wrt your paragraph stating “…in the face of AT&T and T-Mobile agreesively permitting SIM-locked devices onto TracFone’s MVNO networks, that Verizon may allow the same on Page Plus LTE.” excuse my ignorance, but a quick question: why would they offer that option to Page Plus when they won’t offer it to Tracfone?
P Russel,
To-date, none of the big four have begun MVNO operations on their LTE networks. Verizon only uses SIM cards on their LTE devices, devices on their CDMA network do not use SIM cards.
Verizon and Tracfone parted ways years ago, it is widely believed that Tracfone did not want to pay the higher MVNO tier rates that Verizon was asking at the time.
In my personal opinion, Tracfone is happy with where things are. I suspect they will begin LTE MVNO operations once technology evolves a bit, and they can ship devices compatible with each carrier’s (currently incompatible) 700 MHz spectrum.
“page plus customer”,
That portion of our report came from background analysis, from multiple Page Plus Dealer interviews.
Thanks, Christopher!
I’ve reading the comments and I personally think that Page Plus should follow Metro Pcs and believe it or not AT&T are beginning to offer lower end LTE phones. Metro CEO said that’s the future goal for the company. Data plans should be more flexible with the prices and the amount given per month. Since I am a data user 2gb is a good start with the option to buy more data for $10 for 1gb if needed. Feature phone don;t need that much data but smartphone does, so they should have more than one plan to accommodate the individual usages and economic situation. I think Verizon CEO have to be more strategic and less greedy because the pre-paid wars have just started. AT&T is reshaping is GoPhone brand with better selection and pricing, Sprint have unleashed the wimax (4g) unto Boost / Virgin Mobile and through Ting Wireless allow LTE service & finally many new mvno operators are signing wholesale deals with Sprint via Clearwire and finally comes T-Mobile who is re-farming its 2g on 1900mhz to run on its HSPA+ (4g) and run LTE on AWS 1700mgz. Common man language a jail broken iphone or unlocked gsm phone can work on its network near the end of the year (2012). So Page Plus if you’re reading this then its time for you to roll up your sleeves and negotiate with Verizon or become an bankrupt relic.