SubscribeVirgin Mobile’s Broadband2Go prepaid mobile broadband service is increasing usage allowances in hopes of attracting new customers at current prices.
The service, launched last June, has not been as successful as it could be, especially in markets where competitors like Cricket offer no-commitment wireless broadband for $40 a month for up to 5GB of usage, for a lower initial cost.
Sprint, which now owns the Virgin Mobile brand, isn’t lowering prices, but it is increasing usage allowances.
Before:
$10 buys you 100MB of access that expires 10 days after activation.
$20 buys you 250MB of access that expires 30 days after activation.
$40 buys you 600MB of access that expires 30 days after activation.
$60 buys you 1GB of access that expires 30 days after activation.
Now:
The high end Virgin Mobile plan now matches many postpaid plans for pricing and usage allowance, without a two year contract. But it’s still priced $20 higher per month than Cricket. ConnectedPlanet notes:
According to Virgin Mobile chief marketing officer Neil Lindsay, more than 70% of Virgin’s customers said they signed up for Broadband2Go because of the flexibility to change the plans as they needed more or less bandwidth and to pay only for what they needed. Virgin is targeting those cord cutters, such as students or families, who may be using the Broadband2go as a replacement for their at-home Internet service. Virgin’s own surveys indicate that this at-home group already includes 16% of its Broadband2Go customers. Of its user base, 30% also use the card more than four times per week, and 47% asked for additional data on their existing plans.
In turn, Leap Wireless, which owns Cricket, is hinting it may be looking at its own pricing and usage allowances to maintain competitiveness. No specifics yet, but Leap’s 4th quarter earning results were hardly impressive, reporting a wider loss than Wall Street analysts expected, as competition and a weak economy helped erode profits. The company does not plan to expand into new cities in 2010, but will offer nationwide coverage for existing customers with expanded roaming agreements. Also on the way — smartphones from Blackberry and at least one Android phone.
