=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Walmart_Offers_=2445_unlimited_plan_on_?==?ISO-8859-1?Q?T-Mobile=2C_unlimited_calling=2C_unlimited_textin?== ?ISO-8859-1?Q?g=2E_Data_as_low_as_4=A2/MB_Additional_Line?==?ISO-8859-1?Q?s_=2425?=

Walmart is offering its own post-paid wireless plans on T-Mobile under
the "Walmart Family Mobile" brand.

Unlimited voice and texting for $45 a month for the first line, $25 for
each additional line. But the bigger news is that they are offering data
at very good rates for the non-power user, something you can't get on
T-Mobile's own plans. T-Mobile charges you 99¢ an hour for data on
prepaid, $1.99 per MB on postpaid (if you don't sign up for a data plan
on postpaid).

"Family Mobile" starts you off with 100MB of data, but when you use that
up you have to pay 4¢ to 5¢ per MB ($10 for 200MB, $25 for 500MB, $40
for 1G. Note that you don't get 100MB a month, you just get 100MB to
start. The data doesn't expire. Definitely not a phone for those that
use a lot of data, but those are very low data rates for pay as you go data.

They don't mention if this plan gets the same roaming coverage as
T-Mobile's own plans, but that roaming coverage has been drastically
reduced anyway, as roaming agreements with AT&T have ended. If you need
coverage outside of metro areas, you definitely do _not_ want to go with
T-Mobile or "Family Mobile." Here's a comparison of the native coverage
areas for T-Mobile and Verizon which should correspond to the coverage
areas of "Walmart Family Mobile versus Walmart StraightTalk:
"http://i51.tinypic.com/2mqoyvb.jpg". You can see the huge difference in
coverage area (EIYJN).

If you can live with T-Mobile's limited coverage area, this is not a bad
deal for multiple unlimited lines since each extra line is only $25. But
Wal-Mart also offers Straight Talk for $45 a month which also includes
unlimited data (on the phone) and is on Verizon's network so the
coverage area is far greater. However on StraightTalk there is no
discount for additional phones (and it's prepaid not postpaid).

T-Mobile has been struggling with declining subscriber numbers lately,
and they haven't been heavy into the MVNO scene like Verizon, AT&T, and
Sprint, but that's apparently changing.

"http://www.pcworld.com/article/205412/walmart_announces_a_new_postpaid_wireless_plan.htm l?tk=hp_new"

On 9/14/2010 8:33 AM, SMS wrote:

> They don't mention if this plan gets the same roaming coverage as
> T-Mobile's own plans, but that roaming coverage has been drastically
> reduced anyway, as roaming agreements with AT&T have ended. If you need
> coverage outside of metro areas, you definitely do _not_ want to go with
> T-Mobile or "Family Mobile." Here's a comparison of the native coverage
> areas for T-Mobile and Verizon which should correspond to the coverage
> areas of "Walmart Family Mobile versus Walmart StraightTalk:
> "http://i51.tinypic.com/2mqoyvb.jpg".

Actually I'm a bit mistaken here with that map. While the StraightTalk
web site claims that no roaming off of Verizon is available, their map
shows differently. For example, Verizon has no network in Alaska, but
the StraightTalk map includes CDMA roaming in Alaska. There is some
roaming coverage on the Verizon map that is not on the StraightTalk map,
but it's incorrect to state that there is no roaming at all on StraightTalk.

Here's a new map: "http://i51.tinypic.com/2welx50.jpg"

Again, it's not known yet whether or not "Family Mobile" will allow
off-network roaming. If it does, then at least the U.S. dark gray areas
may be included.

SMS wrote on [Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:33:48 -0700]:
> Walmart is offering its own post-paid wireless plans on T-Mobile under
> the "Walmart Family Mobile" brand.
>
> Unlimited voice and texting for $45 a month for the first line, $25 for
> each additional line. But the bigger news is that they are offering data
> at very good rates for the non-power user, something you can't get on
> T-Mobile's own plans. T-Mobile charges you 99¢ an hour for data on
> prepaid, $1.99 per MB on postpaid (if you don't sign up for a data plan
> on postpaid).

Ummm, 99c an hour? I can download a lot of stuff in an hour

On 9/14/2010 11:20 AM, Justin wrote:
> SMS wrote on [Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:33:48 -0700]:
>> Walmart is offering its own post-paid wireless plans on T-Mobile under
>> the "Walmart Family Mobile" brand.
>>
>> Unlimited voice and texting for $45 a month for the first line, $25 for
>> each additional line. But the bigger news is that they are offering data
>> at very good rates for the non-power user, something you can't get on
>> T-Mobile's own plans. T-Mobile charges you 99¢ an hour for data on
>> prepaid, $1.99 per MB on postpaid (if you don't sign up for a data plan
>> on postpaid).
>
> Ummm, 99c an hour? I can download a lot of stuff in an hour
>

That's true. But if you want to check your e-mail four times in a day
you're spending $3.96 a day in data charges. Not a great deal.

On 9/14/2010 9:29 AM, SMS wrote:

<snip>

> Again, it's not known yet whether or not "Family Mobile" will allow
> off-network roaming. If it does, then at least the U.S. dark gray areas
> may be included.

More details were posted today. There _is_ off-network roaming with
Family Mobile to the same extend you get non-data off-network roaming
with regular T-Mobile service.

The maps comparing Family Mobile and StraightTalk are at
"http://i54.tinypic.com/2iau7hg.jpg".

You probably wouldn't want to get the Family Mobile service in places
like California, but for much of the country the coverage is adequate.
The key problem is that T-Mobile has dropped a lot of AT&T roaming in
areas where there is no other carrier. So in my area, the San Francisco
Bay Area, a lot of places outside the urban core no longer have T-Mobile
service.