no-contract

Virgin Mobile fires salvo at T-Mobile, offers $100 to switch

Virgin Mobile wants consumers to know that it's a major player in the no-contract wireless game too, and isn't afraid to spend a little money to show it.

Virgin set its sights directly on T-Mobile, offering $100 to T-Mobile customers willing to switch their number over and buy a smartphone before May 31.

Carriers will often provide incentives to switch, but rarely do they target a specific company. T-Mobile has made a lot of noise about its move to abolish contracts and subsidies, and Virgin Mobile, a business built on prepaid service and a unit of Sprint Nextel, … Read more

How T-Mobile's new service plans could change the industry

Imagine a world where you could take your mobile phone to any carrier you wanted.

You wouldn't be bound to a contract, and your phone would be free from technical constraints that make it impossible to use on other carriers' networks. And forget about that $700 price tag that left you wondering if you were buying a phone or a computer. In this new world order, pricing on smartphones would fall as quickly as the components inside them become commoditized, much like the prices of all consumer electronics. That means no need to cling to a service contract in … Read more

I've been no-contract since before T-Mobile made it cool

Oh, T-Mobile has gone no-contract? Yes, this is a big step for a major national carrier, but for me, it's whoop-de-doo. I've been no-contract for a year already. Plus, I have access to that big, juicy Verizon network that lets me make calls from the middle of the mountains in New Mexico. I'm a customer of Page Plus Cellular, a company that resells Verizon's data and talk-time network. I can quit anytime, with no fear of penalties.

Now that T-Mobile got all coy and dumped the contracts, it feels a bit to me like discovering a cool underground band and then having it hit the Billboard charts and hearing its best song on a McDonald's commercial. I can't really pull off a hipper-than-thou attitude about this, though. After all, I am making some sacrifices to ride the no-contract bandwagon. Here are the pros and cons as I see them. … Read more

Is T-Mobile's new no-contract plan really a good deal?

T-Mobile shook up the wireless industry this week with the introduction of its new no-contract service plans. But is the service really a good value for consumers compared to what the other big guys are offering?

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I answer that very question. A reader wants to know if he should ditch Verizon's wireless service for T-Mobile. While some people seem to balk at the notion that wireless consumers will have to "pay"for their smartphones under these new T-Mobile plans, I do the math to explain why even buying a device at … Read more

T-Mobile undercuts Apple with iPhone prices

T-Mobile's new service plans mark a huge change for wireless carriers. In addition to ditching contracts, the nation's fourth largest wireless provider also has dropped handset subsidies completely. So now, when you buy a new phone from T-Mobile, you'll pay much more for your device than you did when you signed two years of your life away. You have the option of paying the full cost at the time of purchase, or paying a deposit with monthly installments, but the phone's price is the same either way. And, of course, you won't be tied to … Read more

Prepaid or postpaid?: The fight for your cell phone dollars (Smartphones Unlocked)

This article originally published 11/11/2012 and was updated most recently on 3/25/2013.

Now that T-Mobile has smashed into the center of the no-contract wireless game, the tussle for your business between the contract and no-contract carrier model is even more urgent.

There's no question that the prepaid model is designed to save you money over a two-year contract agreement, but how much do you really gain by going prepaid, and what might you lose from the subscriber experience?

For the sake of comparison, I'm going to break down the cost of ownership over a … Read more

Huawei Premia 4G now available at MetroPCS

Today, MetroPCS and Huawei announced their latest collaboration, the Huawei Premia 4G.

Powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Huawei Premia 4G is the carrier's second smartphone to feature 4G LTE connectivity.

Hardware details include a 4-inch display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, and a 5-megapixel camera. Falling somewhere between the ZTE Avid 4G and the LG Spirit 4G, the Premia 4G should appeal to first-time smartphone buyers.

While the handset does run an older version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich is still modern enough to hold its appeal. As an affordable smartphone capable of … Read more

T-Mobile's possible no-contract pricing details divulged

T-Mobile announced in December that it would eliminate subsidies on cell phones this year, hinting that it would also switch up its mobile plans and go no-contract. Now, it's expected that the carrier will debut its new plans at an event scheduled for March 26.

However, TMoNews seems to have gotten its hands on at least some of the pricing information a week in advance.

According to a TMoNews, T-Mobile will be offering two types of plans: the "Uncarrier classic," which will be offered by national retailers like Target and Best Buy, and "Value" plans … Read more

Virgin Mobile picks up Kyocera Brio for Paylo

Virgin Mobile today announced that the Kyocera Brio has joined the family of devices offered under the payLo umbrella.

Priced at $39.99, the handset is aimed at those with very basic mobile needs, mainly talking and texting.

The Brio, first released on Sprint, has a 2.2-inch QVGA display, a QWERTY keyboard, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. There's also a microSD memory card slot for expandable storage.

On the smarter side of things, the phone offers Bluetooth 2.0, mobile web, email, and a few basic applications.

Virgin Mobile, one of Sprint's prepaid arms, offers the Kyocera … Read more

iPhone 5 comes to Walmart's no-contract Straight Talk plan

Forget contracts, users can now snap up Apple's iPhone 5 at Walmart with Straight Talk Wireless. The major retailer announced today that it will be offering users a contract-free iPhone 5 or iPhone 4 for $45 a month starting on Friday.

"We believe customers shouldn't have to choose between saving money and having the latest technology," senior vice president of Entertainment for Walmart U.S. Seong Ohm said in a statement. "Now customers can have the coveted iPhone with unlimited talk, text and data without a contract."

The iPhone 5 has been available at Walmart … Read more