Walmart “Straight Talk” offering unlimited calls, texts and data for $45/mo.
October 15th, 2009
photo: Iván Santiesteban
Over the pond in the US, supermarket Walmart is offering unlimited calls, texts and data from your cellphone for $45/month (£28/mo.) (30 day contract). The “Straight Talk” plan launches this Sunday (18th October). They are also offering 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30MB of mobile web access for $30/mo.
How does this compare to other plans?
From the Walmart press release:
The average U.S. adult spends $78 (£48) on his or her cell phone bill to receive 1,000 minutes a month.* By switching to the $30 Straight Talk plan, for example, the average 1,000 minutes-per-month consumer could save more than $500 per year and still be on a reliable nationwide network.
Which network does this use?
photo: Clean Wal-Mart
Walmart Straight Talk is a MVNO using the Verizon network.
How do I get it?
Sign up at a Walmart store or online at Walmart.com and StraightTalk.com.
Could we see this in the UK soon?
Perhaps. It sounds like a really innovative product from Walmart in the US and UK supermarket ASDA is part of Walmart. Currently ASDA have their own PAYG mobile offering which must be the cheapest PAYG tariff in the UK. We haven’t yet seen a pay monthly contract offering from ASDA yet but I wonder if it does give us any clues to what such an offering might look like. That said, there are some big differences between the UK and US mobile networks. US customers pay to pick up the phone (and sometimes to receive texts); the US is much bigger so the capital expenditure of maintaining the networks is higher; the UK has high termination fees and UK mobile operators have spent billions on 3G licenses.
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- Comments(3)
I’m very happy with Straight Talk and am impressed with their coverage on Verizon.
To me, the $30 – 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts deal is unbeatable. I travel alot and have never had a problem.
When I had Metro POS, it worked fine in town but as soon as I got outside the city, fuhgeddaboutit!
You get what you pay for, or in the case of Straight Talk, MORE than you pay for!
Great post!
I have Straight Talk, which is just an amazing deal.
I was skeptical at first but everything good I’d heard about it is true.
No more crappy coverage from AT+T. The Verizon network is solid and I haven’t dropped a call yet.
I think $45 a month is fantastic and I got a very nice Samsung phone with a qwerty keyboard so texting and web surfing is easy too.
I’m saving hundreds of dollars a year now so it’s pretty awesome.
I’m not the only one who thinks so, either.
Here’s another happy Straight Talk-er:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI40Fqglgys
Straight talk is great! I completely agree! I am saving over 50 dollars a month and I have a great phone! The Samsung Finesse is basically the exact same thing as an iphone but I AM SAVING SOO MUCH MONEY!! literally its ridiculous almost. UNLIMITED TExting, talking, minutes, data. It has it all. Straight Talk sure has me happy. And its on the Verizon Network which is by far the best coverage.