After first being revealed in June and not being available for purchase, Straight Talk has quietly launched its long awaited tablet data SIM cards for AT&T and T-Mobile powered tablets. The SIM cards are now available for purchase at $9.99 each and the plan slate is as follows for either AT&T or T-Mobile SIM:
The tablet data plans compare favorably against AT&T and T-Mobile’s own data options for tablets on 1GB and 2GB pricing, while the higher tiers starting at $40 add an additional 30 days of access. However, T-Mobile’s free lifetime 200MB tablet data and penny SIM sales are still compelling enough that these plans are really best for frequent travelers that need data access or heavy tablet users without easy access to Wi-Fi. It should also be noted that the tablet data access also includes hotspot support to share tablet data to other devices.
Can these SIM cards be used in a phone? Now that Google Voice has wifi calling and texting, it is a reasonable use case.
Officially, no and I assume ST is now set up to check tablet MEIDs at activation. However, It does make for a good excuse to experiment with a smartphone after activating the SIM with a tablet, provided you don’t buy the higher data tiers when you start service.