Virgin Mobile USA to Begin Selling iPhone 5 on June 28

[spicynujac]

$35 (+tax?) for 1,200 minutes and unlimited text and data with Autopay is pretty awesome. The only reason I'm sticking with t mobile is because the 3g data speeds that Virgin is offering is a little too slow, but honestly most heavy data usage is around wifi anyway so I'm REALLY tempted. If there were no extra taxes/fees I'd be sold.

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Oops I read the chart wrong.. they have already taken the $5 discount so it's $40 not $35. Good, but not great. I'll pass. Right now I pay t mobile $30 (including tax) for 1,000 minutes and unlim texts. I can add data on an ipad for $10 / month and just tether it, which is what I plan to do.

 

[Terrin]

Are there any cheap plans like this that use AT&T or T-Mobile's network? LTE just started working on T-Mobile here in Chicago.

T-mobile is $50 a month. How much cheaper do you want?

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The problem would be the coverage areas.

Even considering the cost of the phone, it would be less expensive in one year than my current family plan at T-Mobile costs with 3 phones, and only one is a data plan, and I am paying $20 each month for unlimited messaging on the account.

As with other phone accounts, there is a monthly charge for taxes and fees that would increase the total from $420 annually (for the 300 minutes monthly plan).

I am confused. I have three lines on T-Mobile for less then $150 a month. Unlimited everything.

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ya $60 AT&T GoPhone Prepaid Plan with 4G + LTE 2GB DATA! - doesnt get better

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Also I wouldn't put my money on this....unless you want a Sprint's royal treatment lol...their coverage + service = worst in USA and when you go with a Sprint MVNO.....you can only imagine that it gets worst than worst....is that even possible?

not to mention this iPhone 5 will be locked to Sprint = USELESS in USA much like Sprint's and their other MVNO's...do your self a favor and pick up the straight talk or verizon iPhone 5 if you really want a CDMA one...

Sure it gets better. T-Mobile charges $59 a month for unlimited calls, texting, and data. The data speed is dropped down to 3G or 2G after 2.5 GB's of 4G is reached.

A nation wide speed test of carriers data networks was conducted. ATT and T-mobile were nearly tied in terms of speed (averaged throughout the Nation). Verizon came in third place, and Sprint was way behind the pack. Further, T-Mobile's plans include the hotspot feature as well as HD voice.

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T-Mobile needs to lower their plan cost some to match these prices. These are way better then T-Mobile's.

The problem with your argument is T-Mobile's data network is much faster than the Sprint network Virgin is using, and T-Mobile is giving you unlimited everything for a little more( $50 a month). Further, you can get T-Mobile plans for as low as $30 a month if you are willing to limit voice and data consumption (the plans are unadvertised).

 

[Jschultz]

How is the Sprint network the devil?

I must be incredibly easy to please, as I've never had issues with VM or the Sprint network, even on my crappy HTC One V phone.

I'm on the $45 plan, which, if purchased from Pinzoo, is $47 out the door.

My wife and I are hoping that maybe the 4S will drop a bit in price so we could pick up a pair of those. 3G/4G speeds aren't a big deal for us, as we never really do video/stream from our phones. And, if we do, we're almost always in the presence of WiFi, being in the city of Chicago and all. I really feel for those whose Sprint network coverage is no good in their area. Here on the northside of Chicago, it's been pretty solid.

 

[Gluben]

So just when is Virgin Mobile (or Virgin Media) in the UK going to offer the iPhone? I'm pretty sure they're the last major holdouts.

 

[polymersayb]

You don't get data roaming with the $30 prepaid t-mobile plan? What does this mean?

T-mobile owns a certain number of cell towers, and sometimes you find yourself out of range of those towers. What carriers do in this case is contract with other carriers to provide you voice/data service. However, this is obviously expensive, so t-mobile doesn't offer it to their pre-paid customers.

I imagine this isn't too much of a problem if you don't travel a lot or if you can't stand EDGE (because roaming is at EDGE speeds) but it's still nice to be able to connect from more places.