Amazon.com today announced the beta launch of AmazonWireless (amazonwireless.com), a new Web site offering cell phones and service plans from Verizon Wireless and AT&T, with Sprint and T-Mobile USA reportedly coming soon. The site touts the elimination of "rebate hassles" and free two-day shipping.
The new Web site currently offers more than 120 phones, including a selection of smartphones. Customers can shop for phones by carrier, phone feature, price, color and brand. The site's shopping cart guides customers through each stage of the purchase process, where customers will find familiar Amazon features like bestseller lists, detailed product descriptions and customer reviews.
The idea of aggregating the carrier shopping experience isn't new. Wirefly, an independent online cell phone and plan shopper owned by Simplexity, also claims to simplify the process of selecting the right service and phone to fit a customer’s particular needs.
In April of 2006, InPhonic, the company that previously owned Wirelfy and has since filed Chapter 11, inked a multiyear deal that allowed InPhonic to become part of the Amazon wireless store via the Wirefly brand.
A spokesman for Amazon said that Amazon’s current store was not in any way related to Wirefly, saying that AmazonWireless was an entirely internal project with a similar interface to Endless.com, Amazon's shoe & handbag store.
Online wireless stores are able to offer handsets at cheaper rates than the carriers themselves, or without the hassle of rebates, because they don't have the high operational costs of physical storefronts. However, there has been some criticism surrounding third-party vendors, claiming they don’t offer the same warranties and service that is typically offered by the carriers.