family plan

Prepaid carrier Cricket Wireless wants to make sure it doesn't get shut out of the no-contract game.

With T-Mobile making a lot of noise about its no-contract plans, Cricket, a unit of Leap Wireless, is offering a family bundle that includes two smartphone plans for $40 each a month. Individual smartphone plans cost $50 a month. The plans were effective starting yesterday.

In addition, Cricket brought its iPhone plan down to the standard $50 price, which includes unlimited calling, text messages, and 1 gigabyte of full-speed data. A more expensive $60 plan provides 2.5GB of data, while the … Read more

Wireless operators would like to believe the pricing and terms of their services are straightforward and easy to understand. But when it comes to deciphering family plans or figuring out whether you can or cannot use your smartphone as a wireless hotspot, it's not always so clear.

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I explain to a reader who is confused about how wireless contracts work on a family plan. He complains that he was socked with a hefty early termination fee, and he wonders if it has something to do with the fact that he and his wife … Read more

Apparently Verizon Wireless has been offering users several high-GB data plans without publicly announcing it. According to Computerworld, a company spokesperson confirmed that the carrier is giving users a choice of five more data tiers for their family plans than those previously announced with Share Everything.

The five tiers have been offered to customers since June through customer service on the phone or in stores. They include, 12GB for $110 a month, 14GB for $120 a month, 16GB for $130 a month, 18 GB for $140 a month, and $150 for 20GB a month, according to Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney.… Read more

With AT&T officially announcing its "Mobile Share" plans and joining Verizon Wireless, there will soon be two options for customers who want to get into a family plan for data services.

While these plans aren't the best deals for individuals, large families or even groups of really, really close friends may want to consider them. That's because the more people who sign on, the lower the price per gigabyte and user. Of course, if someone is a heavy data user, that person may want to stick with an individual plan, or risk hogging up … Read more

AT&T launched its own "Mobile Share" plans today, matching Verizon Wireless' push to get more people to share their data plans with family members.

Mobile Share, like Verizon's Share Everything, provides a bucket of data that can be shared between as many as 10 devices. One of the devices has to be a smartphone, but other basic phones, tablets, and laptops can be added on top of that for an additional fee. The plans get unlimited voice and text messages.

Shared data plans, which act like a family plan of minutes and text messages to … Read more

MetroPCS' smartphone strategy is paying off, its president said today, after the company reported disappointing second-quarter results.

A fourth of MetroPCS' customers use smartphones already, and 38 percent of its customers are tied to a family plan, Chief Operating Officer Thomas Keys said during a conference call with analysts.

"The growth has been driven by increasing interest in smartphones," Keys said.

Keys' comments were a defense against questions raised by Wall Street over the company's customer growth and rate of turnover, which both left investors wanting. The company attributed the weakness to normal seasonal pressure and the … Read more

Sprint Nextel is looking at the potential for rolling out a family plan-like bucket for data services that can connect phones, tablets, cameras, and other devices.

"You'll see this from us," Fared Adib, vice president of product development for Sprint, said during a roundtable discussion with reporters today.

Adib's comments echo sentiments from other telecom executives, including Verizon Chief Operating Officer Lowell McAdams and the head of AT&T's mobile and consumer business, Ralph de la Vega. So while not a revolutionary concept, it's comforting that there is some agreement on where data … Read more

We already knew that Verizon Wireless is promising to convert flat rate smartphone data plans into tiered data plans by summer, a move the carrier has worked toward since adding pricing tiers last autumn. Big Red will also attempt to ease the new financial burden for heavy smartphone data users by introducing family plans as well, said Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo at Reuters Global Technology Summit.

Under a family data plan, individual members would presumably be able to use their smartphones, tablets, and mobile hot spots while paying a one-time monthly fee.

"I think it's safe to … Read more

Choosing a new cell phone is not as easy as it used to be. Just a few years ago, you'd simply pick out one of the free new phones that your wireless carrier offered you as an incentive to sign up for another two-year contract.

But things are much more complicated now. Not only are there more phones to choose from, but there are different types of phones. There are sophisticated smartphones, quick messaging devices, 3G multimedia phones, basic feature phones, and more. And each category of phones seems to come with a complicated offering of voice, text, and … Read more