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Mint Mobile Pushes Back On Charging For Data Subscribers Don’t Use

Christian

In September, Mint Mobile launched an unlimited plan. The plan is a good deal with a price as low as $30 per month, but I’ve been critical of Mint using the word “unlimited” to describe a plan that actually includes 35GB of data each month.

Yesterday, one of Mint’s owners, Ryan Reynolds, shared a video about an upcoming feature on Mint’s unlimited plan. Soon, Mint will begin recommending that light and moderate data users on the unlimited plan renew to cheaper plans with smaller data allotments. Here’s how Mint explains it:

What if you don’t really need unlimited? Seriously, if you don’t, we can help you save even more money with Mint…we’re gonna be sending you monthly updates showing you exactly how much data you’re using. You can also check your data usage in the app. Then, when it’s time to renew your plan, we’ll recommend the perfect plan for you so you can save as much money as possible. And if that means you should downgrade into something that isn’t unlimited, then we’re gonna suggest you do so. BTW, the average person only uses about 6GB per month.

But wait, don’t most big wireless companies try to upsell me even if I don’t need it? Yes, they certainly do…but luckily, we’re not them. Our whole thing is to make sure you get premium wireless for less. Because if you’re only using 5, 6 or even 9 GBs a month, you shouldn’t be paying more for an unlimited plan you don’t need.

I’m glad to see Mint pushing against the industry’s trend towards unlimited plans for everyone. You can see Ryan Reynolds full announcement below:

FCC Hits T-Mobile With A $200 Million Fine For Sprint’s Abuse Of The Lifeline Program

Christian

The FCC fined T-Mobile $200 million for Sprint’s abuse of the Lifeline program. Under the Lifeline program, wireless carriers can get a nearly $10 subsidy for each eligible, low-income American they provide phone service to. Often, the Lifeline subsidy is large enough for carriers to offer basic service at no cost to eligible consumers.

According to the Lifeline program rules, carriers are only supposed to get subsidies for lines that are in active use. Lines that go unused are supposed to become ineligible for a subsidy. Here’s how the FCC explains the rationale for rules about usage:

The FCC developed this and other rules after investigations showed that companies were aggressively selling free Lifeline service, knowing that they would get paid each month even if consumers didn’t use their phones. Since there was no bill, consumers had no incentive to relinquish the subscription.

Before Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile, the carrier was receiving subsidies for almost a million lines that we’re in violation of the usage rules. Since T-Mobile now owns Sprint, T-Mobile is on the hook for the FCC’s $200 million fine. The FCC’s press release describes the fine as the “largest fixed-amount penalty to be paid in Commission history.”

When Will Starlink Be Available In More States?

Christian 4 Comments

February 12, 2021 Update: Starlink has expanded availability substantially since this page was first published. You can check availability at your location on Starlink’s website.

Users on a Reddit thread are logging information about the locations of Starlink beta testers. At the moment, it looks like Starlink has sent invites to people in latitudes between 45.3°N and 48.4°N. Some invites have been sent in at least seven states:

  • Idaho
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • Oregon
  • Washington
  • Wisconsin

Tweet updates

Today, Elon Musk suggested more invites are about to go out:

Follow-up comments shed a bit of light on Starlink’s expansion plans:

While a comment on Twitter falls short of a formal statement, Musk’s comment provides the most recent information I’ve seen about Starlink’s timelines. We might only be a few months away from Starlink offering service in a lot more places.

T-Mobile’s Update On Mid-Band 5G

Christian

In today’s press release from T-Mobile, the company claims that it has doubled the number of cities where it offers mid-band 5G service over the last month. The company expects to further expand mid-band, 5G coverage by the end of 2020:

Engineers are lighting up 1,000 sites per month with 2.5 GHz 5G and T-Mobile has plans to cover 100 million people with mid-band 5G by the end of the year.

While the press release involves an obnoxious amount of hype and marketing-speak, I think T-Mobile’s basic claim that mid-band service will bring consumers what they expect from 5G is more-or-less accurate. Low-band 5G doesn’t deliver speeds much better than what consumers are used to with LTE connections. Millimeter wave 5G coverage is still extremely sparse. With mid-band 5G, network operators can offer high speeds while still covering decent-sized areas.

For more information, see my page dedicated to T-Mobile’s 5G strategy.

Starlink’s Terms Of Service & Mars

Christian

The terms of service for Starlink’s beta program were recently shared on Reddit. Here’s the contents of the terms found below the heading “Governing Law” (emphasis mine):

For Services provided to, on, or in orbit around the planet Earth or the Moon, these Terms and any disputes between us arising out of or related to these Terms, including disputes regarding arbitrability (“Disputes”) will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California in the United States. For Services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonization spacecraft, the parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities. Accordingly, Disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement.

I have my doubts about enforceability, but it’s entertaining regardless.

Consumer Cellular Being Sold To A PE Firm

Christian

The private equity firm GTCR is planning to purchase a majority stake in the carrier Consumer Cellular for 2.3 billion dollars. With roughly four million subscribers, the purchase price comes out to over $500 per subscriber. The deal is expected to close in late 2020.

I don’t know what source Mike Dano of Light Reading is relying on, but he seems to have insights into the details of the sale:

After a bidding war that involved Dish Network, Altice USA, Ultra Mobile, a group led by Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton and others, Chicago private equity company GTCR has purchased Consumer Cellular for around $2.3 billion.

A year of acquisitions

The wireless market in the U.S. has seen a lot of movement lately. Sprint, Ting, Boost, Consumer Cellular, and a whole bunch of brands owned by TracFone have either been acquired in the last year or are in the process of being acquired.

The latest deal with Consumer Cellular presents interesting contrasts with the acquisition of Boost Mobile. DISH paid about 1.4 billion for roughly 9 million Boost subscribers. The cost per subscriber in the Boost acquisition came out to about $150, roughly one-fourth of the cost per subscriber in the Consumer Cellular acquisition. Consumer Cellular’s lower churn rate may explain some of the discrepancy.

Starlink’s Better Than Nothing Beta

Christian

SpaceX’s Starlink is launching a public beta. Yesterday, a Reddit user shared the contents of an invite email. In the email’s opening, Starlink takes a self-deprecating tone:1

We are trying to lower your initial expectations 😛

Expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.

It’s refreshing to see an internet service provider (ISP) taking such a candid approach. Emojis, transparency, and Starlink’s name for the service, the “Better Than Nothing Beta,” all contract starkly with the usual corporate-marketing-speak from conventional ISPs. Even with an initial speed of 50Mbps and latency of 40ms, Starlink could be a big improvement for people living in areas that aren’t served by modern, wired ISPs.

Improvements

The email invitation suggested Starlink’s performance will improve substantially over time:

As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations, and improve our networking software, data speed, latency and uptime will improve dramatically. For latency, we expect to achieve 16ms to 19ms by summer 2021.

Starlink beta pricing

Subscribers joining the Better Than Nothing Beta will have to pay about $100 a month for service and a roughly $500 one-time fee for a user terminal and a router.

I don’t know if the $500 price tag is a good proxy for how much it costs Starlink to produce a terminal. Starlink may be partially subsidizing terminals to keep the service attractive.

Boost’s Low-Cost Plans Now Available Online

Christian

Earlier this year, Boost launched two low-cost plans that were only available in stores. Now, the plans are available online also. Both plans include unlimited minutes and texts. The plans differ in their data allotments:

  • 1GB for $10 per month
  • 2GB for $15 per month

SIM cards for these plans come with a one-time cost of $10. Only new customers who bring their own devices are eligible to sign up.

The 2GB plan is similar to T-Mobile’s 2GB Connect plan that also costs $15 per month. I don’t see a strong case for choosing Boost’s 2GB plan over T-Mobile’s 2GB plan.

I find Boost’s 1GB plan more exciting. It’s among the cheapest, mainstream plans on the market today. It’s an awesome option for light data users that don’t need extensive coverage.

Double data

Boost is running a promotion where customers who purchase one of these plans will get double the usual amount of data for the first three months of service. The $10 per month plan will include 2GB of data for the first few months, and the $15 per month plan will include 4GB of data.

I’m not a big fan of promotions that involve extra data for a short period. Subscribers that benefit from the extra data are likely to find their data allotments insufficient after the promotional period. Subscribers that are well-matched to the plans are unlikely to need extra data in the first place.

Thanks to Dennis Bournique for sharing this news on Twitter.

Verizon To Acquire Bluegrass Cellular

Christian

Verizon is planning to acquire over 200,000 subscribers and some assets from Bluegrass Cellular, a network operator in central Kentucky. In comparison to recent mergers and acquisitions in the cellular industry, this latest acquisition is small. Bluegrass subscribers represent less than 0.1% of subscribers in the U.S. market.

Earlier this year, I was surprised to see a company as small as Bluegrass on the short list of only eight carriers that support the latest Apple Watches. I wonder if Bluegrass only made the list because an acquisition by Verizon was in the works.

The planned acquisition will have to be approved by the FCC. Verizon expects the deal to close in late 2020 or early 2021.

Verizon 5G Updates For Samsung Galaxy Phones

Christian

On Tuesday, I posted about Verizon’s launch of low-band 5G. I mentioned that my 5G-compatible phone was still connected to 4G even though I was supposedly within the coverage area for Verizon’s 5G.

As it turns out, a handful of 5G-capable devices need updates to work with Verizon’s low-band 5G. Yesterday, software updates became available on several Samsung Galaxy phones sold by Verizon:

  • S20 5G UW
  • S20 Ultra 5G
  • S20+ 5G
  • Note20 5G
  • A71 5G UW
  • A51 5G UW

After installing an update, my Galaxy S20 connected to Verizon’s 5G without trouble. Note that software updates may not be available yet for those who purchased one of the phones on the list from a retailer other than Verizon.