Today, Verizon launched a new flanker brand, Yahoo Mobile. The new carrier is extremely similar to another Verizon flanker brand, Visible. You could argue that Yahoo Mobile is closer to a reseller of Visible’s plans than a distinct carrier. Both Visible and Yahoo Mobile have extremely similar websites, policies, and plans. Yahoo Mobile explicitly mentions Visible in FAQ entries, and Yahoo Mobile’s terms of service make the relationship clear:1
Advantages of Yahoo Mobile
In most respects, Yahoo Mobile looks nearly identical to Visible. So far, I see two little advantages the service has over Visible:
- The base price of Yahoo Mobile is a penny cheaper each month ($39.99 vs. $40.00).
- Yahoo Mobile comes with access to Yahoo Mail Pro at no extra charge.
Advantages of Visible
The advantages Yahoo Mobile has over Visible will be almost meaningless for most people. On the other hand, Visible’s offerings are better than Yahoo Mobile’s in a few substantive ways:
- Visible discounts the first month of service to only $25.
- Visible’s Party Pay system allows subscribers’ ongoing monthly rates to drop as low as $25.
- Visible has a swap program that allows new customers to trade in junky, old Android phones for decent, new phones at no charge.
