Topic 'Re: Still not a good deal..' in forum '' - dslreports.com

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:02:44 EDT

iansltx posted : What forces them to do this? Federal regulation? What's the regulation?

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:28:39 EDT

BF69 posted :

...and if the major carriers that Straight Talk wholesales from had a problem with that, they wouldn't be reselling their service to ST cheaply enough for ST to make a profit.

Carriers are forced to sell to companies like Straight Talk and they are limited in the amount they can charge.

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:22:53 EDT

iansltx posted : ...and if the major carriers that Straight Talk wholesales from had a problem with that, they wouldn't be reselling their service to ST cheaply enough for ST to make a profit.

Also, Page Plus Cellular resells VZW's network for $55 per month for unlimited everything except data (2GB). No 4G though.

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:20:52 EDT

BF69 posted :

said by iansltx:

You forgot T-Mobile.

Also, they have smaller (but still existent) infrastructure costs...and they pay the big carriers per minute/text/megabyte wholesale. So it isn't like they're getting a free ride.

The cost accompany like Straight Talks pays to use the major carriers pipes is FAR cheaper than if they had to build out their own network. FACT. And if they had to build out their own network they would NOT being offering unlimited everything for $45 a month.

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:18:58 EDT

BF69 posted :

said by jseymour:

said by BF69:

Well let's see Straight Talk uses At&t, Verizon's and Sprint's networks and have ZERO infrastructure costs. Gee I wonder why they can offer unlimited everything or $45 a month?

Unless you believe those providers are selling room on their networks at a loss, which seems unlikely, the MVNOs are paying for those infrastructure costs in what they pay those providers for space on their networks.

Jim

Yes space which SHOULD be used for THEIR own customers. I wonder if at&t and Verizon could still offer unlimited or at least higher caps if they weren't FORCED to sell precious space and use precious spectrum on these companies. Which then turn around and get customers by telling you how much more expensive at&t and Verizon are.

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:44:03 EDT

iansltx posted : You forgot T-Mobile.

Also, they have smaller (but still existent) infrastructure costs...and they pay the big carriers per minute/text/megabyte wholesale. So it isn't like they're getting a free ride.

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:43:08 EDT

iansltx posted : You're right; Tracfone customer service is poor. However you can do most things online. And is it worth $45 per month to get good customer service from your wireless carrier?

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:42:18 EDT

iansltx posted : Nah; normal Tracfone is a standard pay-per-minute prepaid offering, with lower-end phones. You can get similar phones on Net10 or Straight Talk with the unlimited plan if you want, but they key differentiator between TF and Net10 is that you can get smartphones on Net10 and Straight Talk (unlimited plans only), whereas that doesn't happen on TF.

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 12:40:07 EDT

jseymour posted :

said by BF69:

Well let's see Straight Talk uses At&t, Verizon's and Sprint's networks and have ZERO infrastructure costs. Gee I wonder why they can offer unlimited everything or $45 a month?

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:06:42 EDT

BF69 posted :

said by Simba7:

Especially with Straight Talk's $45/mo unlimited plan, which already includes 2GB of Data.

at&t and VZ really need to get with the times.

Well let's see Straight Talk uses At&t, Verizon's and Sprint's networks and have ZERO infrastructure costs. Gee I wonder why they can offer unlimited everything or $45 a month?

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:10:06 EDT

IowaCowboy posted : Straight Talk may be good for price but not for customer service. Hopefully you'll never have any issues. My former neighbor has a TracPhone and he says they may be good on price but the customer service is not the best.

I had a problem with the 4G connection on my newly purchased iPad Mini and a quick call to customer service resolved the issue. They had me power down the device, remove and insert the SIM card (which was a pain in the butt as they now use those nano SIM cards, which are hard to handle with my large hands) and the CSR (who was a tier 2 tech support representative in a US-based call center) changed a few provisioning settings on VZW's end and problem solved.

I don't even think MVNOs have access to their host carrier's network settings past activation/deactivation. And the tier 1 carriers can address network issues better.

Re: Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 10:02:06 EDT

TBusiness posted : Net10 is offering a similar plan as their sister company. Pretty soon all TracFone companies most likely will- especially since they already have a business side of the company.

Still not a good deal..

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:52:05 EDT

Simba7 posted : Especially with Straight Talk's $45/mo unlimited plan, which already includes 2GB of Data.

at&t and VZ really need to get with the times.