It appears TracFone Wireless’ recent introduction of Straight Talk, a $45 prepaid unlimited plan, has some analysts and commentators crying price war.
The previous $50 benchmark for unlimited prepaid was set and adhered to by Boost Mobile, Leap Wireless, Metro PCS and Virgin Mobile.
While the new Straight Talk plan from TracFone only marks a $5 drop in price from other comparable plans, it’s significant in that most analysts had seen $50 per month as low enough to compete with even postpaid offerings. Before unlimited prepaid plans, the prepaid market was traditionally seen as more expensive per minute than postpaid, and usually reserved for those with bad credit.
Some balked at the idea that TracFone’s new plan could hurt profits at many of the carriers currently offering prepaid unlimited plans, but stock prices fell just the same in recent trading. Sprint was down 3.7 percent at $4.44; MetroPCS was off 4.4 percent to $12.08; Leap fell 4.3 percent to $29.24; and Virgin Mobile fell 3.5 percent to $3.61.