TracFone launches new sub brand: StraightTalk w/ no contract unlimited voice+sms for $45/month
By Stefan Constantinescu on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 2:32 PM PST In Carriers
TracFone, a prepaid mobile virtual network operator in the United States who peddles to drug dealers and illegal immigrants, just launched a new sub brand called “StraightTalk.” Prepaid never really was big in America, while in Europe and Asia it is the way a majority of users consume, but with the economy in a nose dive, and The New York Times stating today that unemployment has hit the highest levels in 26 years at 9.5%, people will want to control their spending.
For $45 per month, with no contract, you get unlimited voice, unlimited SMS, unlimited 411 and 30 MB of data. That is what I call a steal. If it still isn’t cheap enough for you, you can opt for the $30/month plan which provides 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, 30 MB of data, and unlimited 411.
This isn’t prepaid how I’ve grown to know and love it in Europe. In many of the countries I’ve been to and picked up prepaid SIM cards, you load the card with credit and then when you reach closer and closer to zero remaining credit, you top up your SIM card. With StraightTalk you pay a monthly fee, regardless if you use your mobile phone or not. That $45 will get you unlimited voice and SMS for 30 days, after that you have to pay another $45. In Finland if I go on vacation in a cottage and don’t touch my phone except to send a few text messages, I pay for those few text messages and that’s it. If I was on StraightTalk, I just wasted $45.
There will be taxes and other fees, so who knows how high that $45 will really become, and you can only choose from a Motorola (NYSE: MOT) W385, Motorola RAZR V3A or LG200, but still, this is crazy cheap for America in terms of rates per month.
[Via: Phone Scoop, hat tip to @caaarlo]
Wish we had such a deal in canada.
“peddles to drug dealers and illegal immigrants”.. This is one agressive accusation. Where are your facts and your credibility?
It seems that you can’t even tell the difference between PEPAID and UNLIMITED or a hybrid between the two. There are many offerings in the USA that offer what you call “True Prepaid”; TracFone being one of the more generous ones with unlimited stacking of days and minutes.
It seems to me that StraightTalk is geared towards a different niche. To each his own. If you compare other offerings out there StraightTalk seems to be the best available for somebody that intends to send much more than two text messages a month.
-X
I use a prepaid Tracfone for all my cell needs. Does that make me either a drug dealer or an illegal immigrant? What an incredibly obnoxious and insulting thing to say about the millions of people using this provider. As Xavier said, you have no credibility.
Actually, I think it’s just sour grapes. You are probably one of those poor souls stuck into a two-year contract with some carrier ripping you off.
These are great monthly plans, providing great value on an excellent network. Why not just stick to writing that?
I agree with Xavier and Jason, how can you make such a statement? Besides the way a prepaid package works is that you buy up front, how are they going to charge extra taxes when they are charging $45 and that’s what you pay? I think it’s a really fantastic offer and I’m all for it.
I did a little digging around and I think that the best bang for your buck is Straight Talk. $45 a month for unlimited nationwide anytime minutes and texts. Pretty awesome!
I ordered mine from the website and will let you know how I like it. Can’t beat the price though!
Cris Chan you are so very right my friend. This price is incredible. I feel like Tracfone hit the bulls eye on this idea. I’m switching from virgin mobile to get this deal tommorrow. With Virgin I am paying like three times this amount.
Well done TracFone. They are surprising me more and more everyday with the great values that they are offering. Similar to Chris Chan, I did alot of “digging” around before I finally took the plunge and switched to prepaid. I found out that TracFone has the best testing value in the books. I am not surprised at that statistic after having used the phone for over a month now. Keep up the good work TracFone!
Now I just need to figure out the right “address” so I can send text messages from my PC to a straight talk phone.Can anyone help?
I think this is a great plan. One thing missing….I love my smart-phone and the ability to get my workplace emails to the phone. I don’t believe the straighttalk phones have this capability….is that accurate??
I am a retired teacher – fartherest thing from a drug dealer. I loved tracfone- just to get emergency calls and not talk all day. Think I will have a happy few years with Straighttalk –works great-very happy.
In my opinion the real crime is some of the other companies-charging outrageous prices for what you get–hoping to get rid of my landline–goes up every month. It can take a few days to get your number transferred- cause the “overpriced” carriers are not too happy about this.
Also could not get this at the Walmart in my town- had to drive 55 miles. Verizon had Walmart in a squeeze or something in my larger town-was told so by the marketing manager.
Believe me Straighttalk is a good deal-however I would suggest the autorefill plan–so you don’t get cancelled and have to remember every 30 days!
I’m curious about this. Right now I’m with Cellular South paying $80 for unlimited everything. But I’m using a Blackberry. Would I be locked into using only these phones or could I hack a smartphone to work with the service?