I’m not a big fan of the sprint network but this has got to be the cheapest iPhone plan out there. You basically get 300 min, unlimited texting, and 2.5GB of data (after which you get throttled down to 256kbps for the rest of the month) for $30/month. The fine print even makes it sound like hotspot is included. I have no idea how much they will be charging for the phone though.
Starting Friday, June 29, 2012, the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S will be available on Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk unlimited data and messaging plans. Plus, get an exclusive $5 per month plan discount when you register a credit card, debit card, or PayPal account for automatic monthly payments. That makes the iPhone plans available for as low as $30 per month*.
*Plan includes 300 Anytime Minutes and 2.5 GB of Full-Speed Data per month.
VIRGIN MOBILE SERVICE IS SUBJECT TO TERMS OF SERVICE FOUND AT VIRGINMOBILEUSA.COM.[ Add’l minutes are 10¢ each. International services extra. Prohibited data uses apply. State and local sales taxes and fees may apply. Payment is due on the monthly payment date. Account will become inactive if you miss your payment. Unless sufficient funds are added within 120 days after your last monthly payment date, account expires and account balance will be forfeited. Virgin Mobile reserves the right, without notice, to limit throughput speeds when monthly data usage exceeds 2.5GB when monthly data usage exceeds the applicable data usage limit. The data limit is combination of phone and hotspot usage, if applicable. Connectivity dependent upon compatibility and speeds may vary.] Customers will continue to have data access but maximum speeds may be limited to 256Kbps or below for the remainder of the monthly plan cycle. During this time, customers may experience slower page loads, file downloads, and degraded streaming media. Throughput speeds will be restored when your new monthly plan begins. Coverage not available everywhere. Nationwide Sprint Network for voice service reaches more than 280 million people Sprint 3G Network for data service reaches over 276 million people. Pricing and service details subject to change. Restrictions apply. Visit virginmobileusa.com for full details and latest pricing.
It doesn’t look like they’re discounting the value of money for the future at all, although I don’t know off hand if it would change the overall value rankings.
I think it’s cute that the speed they “throttle” you to is far higher than anything you’re liable to get on Sprint’s 3G network.
My mom is on Virgin Mobile, though, and in terms of just getting you making phone calls and (slowly) downloading stuff for cheap, they rock pretty hard.
I’ve been using Virgin Mobile via the Optimus V for about a year and a half now. Paid $150 for the phone and $25/month for unlimited data (and also unlimited voice, because I use google voice with a SIP setup so basically my phone does nothing but data).
Awesome deal.
As an Apple anti-fanboy, I don’t care about the iPhone, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Virgin Mobile as a great low-cost prepaid option. I must have saved close to $1,000 compared to if I were still using my old traditional contract smartphone plan.
Does anyone here have Virgin Mobile in DC? I’m currently on Verizon and will be upgrading to a smartphone soon, but the new Verizon plans coming out are terrible if you use few minutes and mainly care about data. VM’s $35/month for 300 min and unlimited text/data is awfully tempting as long as their network coverage is decent.
My wife is on VM and I’m on Sprint. We live in Alexandria, she works in DC (I try not to work if I can avoid it). Her coverage is good, generally, although there are two spots in Alexandria where, for whatever reason, the sign is terrible. That said, we have no regrets about moving her to VM (I’ll probably go once my term it out).
This sounds fairly unbelievable. There has to be a major catch somewhere, and I’m guessing it’s that the phone will cost a fortune since there’s no contract. Regardless, the fact that there’s a cell phone company trying to provide plans that people want instead of forcing you to pay for shit you don’t want/need is pretty encouraging.
The only problem there is that as a user grandfathered in on the $25/month plan, the rate would be pushed to the $35/month with a phone change. This stipulation became effective May 27th. Between that and the throttling which started March 23rd, I think it’s only a matter of time before Virgin Mobile finally pushes people to the new rate.
I still would recommend the service. Unlimited data and text with 300 minutes for $35/month is still an excellent deal. I’ve been a happy prepaid Virgin Mobile user for about a decade now.
Sadly, my house is in a cell network dead zone, for all networks. I’m on Sprint, but I had to bitch at them for nearly a year to them to give me a microcell to route my calls through the Internet. Does Virgin Mobile offer microcells? I realize its the Sprint network they use, but I’m certain if I moved my phones from Sprint to VM, Sprint would cancel my free microcell.
I’m in a complete cell dead zone in my specific complex–drive out to the main road 30 feet away from the last building in the complex and you’re at full bars; back down into the parking lot again and you’re at 0. Even on the top floor of the building I can’t make a call longer than 30 seconds -.-
Point being that I don’t see any reason to pay Verizon $200 for the privilege of owning a honking device that will suck up my internet bandwidth to provide the kind of coverage that their own websites shows I should be positively awash in.
Sprint/Virgin Mobile actually gets pretty good coverage where I am but when I’m at home I just use SIP internet calling over wifi. Tends to have much better voice quality than using a “voice” connection.
I called nearly every day for a year with them constantly promising it would be fixed. They finally drove out to my house and the guy was baffled as to why he could get clear signal 100ft away, but nothing at my house, not even the roaming signal of another network. So they gave me a free microcell. Technically I pay them $5 a month for the service, but they gave me a bill reduction that made up for it.
