AppleInsider Staff
The nation's second-largest carrier AT&T will reportedly add Apple's iPhone to the list of devices customers can buy through its GoPhone prepaid brand on Friday, with the handset coming alongside the activation of 4G LTE and HSPA+ support for the service.
According to MacRumors, the addition of the iPhone to GoPhone's lineup is part of a larger expansion of services set to take place on Friday, as AT&T will start offering prepaid customers access to its LTE and HSPA+ data network for the first time.
While iPhone owners have been able to use the prepaid service for some time, the terms never allowed for data network access, rendering many of the Apple handset's capabilities useless.
Pricing will be arranged in three separate packages. At the top is a $65 per month plan which comes with unlimited calling and 1 gigabyte of data, while both the $50 and $25 monthly voice plans require an add-on fee for data.
Existing iPhone owners using GoPhone will automatically be updated with data access on June 21, though they have the option to manually upgrade to the new service.
The news comes amidst a strong push for the iPhone from other U.S. prepaid carriers like Virgin Mobile, which last week debuted a 15 percent discount for iPhone 5 purchases made through its website. Regional carrier Cricket Wireless helped raise the handset's marketshare after kicking off sales last year, while a rumored deal with Boost Mobile is said to be in the works.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
20 Comments
There are so many rumours about this phone that it must be true. Maybe we should start thinking about what they will call it?
iPhone junior?
iPhone x?
iPhoneCheapo?
iPhoneNotasGoodEh?
LOL. 65 bucks for one gig of data? LOL.
I pay 45 bucks and get 5 gigs at 4G HSPA+ and unlimited at half that afterwards with StraightTalk. But hey, you do you, AT&T, you do you bro.
"The news comes amidst a strong push for the iPhone from other U.S. prepaid carriers like Virgin Mobile, which last week debuted a 15 percent discount for iPhone 5 purchases made through its website." The last time I checked, VM wasn't offering the iPhone 5, much less a 15% discount on said device. Cheers.
[quote name="Gazoobee" url="/t/157680/at-t-to-reportedly-add-apples-iphone-to-gophone-prepaid-lineup#post_2332498"]There are so many rumours about this phone that it must be true. Maybe we should start thinking about what they will call it? iPhone junior? iPhone x? iPhoneCheapo? iPhoneNotasGoodEh? [/quote] Which article did you read?
[quote name="Cash907" url="/t/157680/at-t-to-reportedly-add-apples-iphone-to-gophone-prepaid-lineup#post_2332509"]LOL. 65 bucks for one gig of data? LOL. I pay 45 bucks and get 5 gigs at 4G HSPA+ and unlimited at half that afterwards with StraightTalk. But hey, you do you, AT&T, you do you bro. [/quote] Only 5 GB? I pay $45 for unlimited data, voice, and text at Straight Talk.