Rumor: Prepaid carrier Boost Mobile to sell iPhone in September

On the heels of the news that Cricket Wireless will become the first prepaid carrier in the U.S. to offer Apple's iPhone later this month, an unverified report claims Sprint subsidiary Boost Mobile will also begin offering the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S this September.

A "trusted source" has indicated to TechnoBuffalo that the prepaid carrier plans to initiate sales of Apple's handset in early September, but the tipster was unable to determine whether Boost Mobile would offer its $50 Monthly Unlimited Plan with Shrinkage for the device.

When contacted by AppleInsider, a Boost Mobile spokesperson declined to comment, citing company policy not to discuss rumors on products or services.

The arrival of the iPhone on prepaid carriers in the U.S. will likely challenge existing Android offerings, which have seen ready adoption by the prepaid market. With the exception of one BlackBerry Curve handset, all of the smartphones sold by Boost Mobile on its website appear to be Android models.

Earlier on Thursday, Cricket Wireless revealed that it will sell the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S starting on June 22. One analyst speculated that parent company Leap is paying a subsidy of $150 in order to sell Apple's smartphone for $500 without a contract.

Prepaid carriers could also attract more budget-conscious customers into the Apple ecosystem. Though prepaid plans will require customers to pay more for their phones up front, ISI Group's Brian Marshall calculated that lower monthly rates could help prepaid subscribers break even within six months of service on Cricket Wireless, as compared to AT&T or Verizon.

Boost Mobile's parent company, Sprint, only began offering the iPhone last fall with the release of the iPhone 4S. The nation's third-largest wireless operator revealed in April that it had sold 1.5 million iPhones in the first quarter of calendar 2012. Sprint said last month that it is "very happy" with its deal with Apple, despite the fact that it doesn't expect to profit from the iPhone until 2015.

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17 Comments

xamian

said about 11 years ago

I personally find it difficult to believe that Boost would carry the iPhone. Similar to Virgin Mobile, the network is pure Sprint with no roaming. The coverage for most of the country is extremely spotty, unless you are in a larger city or along a major highway. Even then - having been with VM, I have had nothing but terrible coverage in one of the larger cities of PA at the crossroads of a couple major interstates.

cvaldes1831

said about 11 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Though prepaid plans will require customers to pay more for their phones up front, ISI Group's Brian Marshall calculated that lower monthly rates could help prepaid subscribers break even within six months of service on Cricket Wireless, as compared to AT&T or Verizon.

Duh, just do the math for unlimited talk, unlimited text and 2-3GB of cellular data.

Straight Talk: $649 factory unlocked retail handset, $15 SIM (one-time charge), $45/month for six months. Total cost of ownership over six months: $934 (no contract, no early termination fee)

Cricket Wireless: $500 partially subsidized handset, $55/month for six months. Total cost of ownership over six months: $830 (no contract, no early termination fee)

AT&T/Verizon: $199 subsidized handset, $36 activation fee, $120/month for six months. Total cost of ownership over six months: $955 (two year contract; $325 early termination fee, less $10 per month of service; if you quit AT&T after six months, you'd shell out at least $265 extra in fees).

The break-even point for Cricket is month 4 versus AT&T/Verizon, but that assumes that one will continue with either plan until the Early Termination Fee of $325 (at AT&T and Verizon) is no longer applicable.

The break-even point for Straight Talk is month 6 versus AT&T/Verizon. The longer you keep your Straight Talk account, the cheaper it ends up being.

If you calculate total cost of ownership over a 20-month or 24-month period, Straight Talk ends up being way cheaper than AT&T, and a bit cheaper than Cricket. One big advantage of Straight Talk is that you (the iPhone user) are accessing the same cellular towers as AT&T subscribers. If you are in an HSPA+ market, you will be getting the faster network speeds, something Cricket can't match since their network is based on CDMA/EV-DO.

At $50 per month, the Boost Mobile offering would put it squarely between Straight Talk ($45/mo.) and Cricket ($55/mo.). The biggest unknown would be the price of the handset (subsidy?).

Monthly cost of ownership (over 24 months):
Straight Talk: $72.67 (unlimited talk/text, 2GB data, no international calling on this plan rate)
Cricket: $75.83 (unlimited talk/text, 2.3GB data)
Verizon: $79.79 (450 min to landline or other carriers, 2GB data, no text plan) (Anytime 6AM to 9PM /no unlimited mobile to mobile except in-network)
AT&T: $79.79 (450 min. talk to landline or other carriers , 3GB data, no text plan) (Anytime 6AM to 9PM/ no unlimited mobile to mobile except in-network)

H2O Wireless: $77.46 (unlimited talk/text, 500MB of data, some international calling)
H2O Wireless: $87.46 (unlimited talk/text, 2GB of data, speed throttled after first 500MB, some international calling)
Sprint: $89.79 (450 min. talk for landline calls, unlimited text/data) Anytime 7AM to 7PM Unlimited mobile to mobile)

Sprint: $119.79 (unlimited talk/text/data)
Verizon: $129.79 (unlimited talk/text, 2GB data)
AT&T: $129.79 (unlimited talk/text, 3GB data)

cvaldes1831

said about 11 years ago

For Boost Mobile to beat Straight Talk and Cricket Wireless for total cost of ownership over 24 months, they would have to price the handset under $544.

macky the macky

said about 11 years ago

At this point in time, shouldn't the rumor sites be announcing who WON'T be getting the iPhone?

macky the macky

said about 11 years ago

Taxes on phone services run about 30%. While the taxes on the handset should be limited to sales tax. If the cost of the phone could be separated out of the services bill, I'd think the pre-paid costs could be a lot lower then.