Echostar Corporation has relaunched its Boost Mobile wireless business by updating its logo and unifying its prepaid and post-paid plans under a single name.
The update is intended to bring a level of clarity and simplicity to consumers who feel overwhelmed by the number of prepaid and post-paid wireless plans on the market by offering just four unlimited talk, text and data plans connected to Boost Mobile’s 5G wireless network.
In a press release on Tuesday, Boost Mobile said it was “uniquely offering both prepaid and postpaid services under one brand,” but it wasn’t immediately clear from the release or the new Boost Mobile website which plans were prepaid or post-paid.
The new service tiers include “Unlimited,” “Unlimited Plus” and “Unlimited Premium,” which starts at $25 per month and includes 30 GBs of premium data on Boost Mobile’s 5G network. Unlimited Plus increases the amount of premium data to 40 GBs and includes hotspot access, while Unlimited Premium unlocks global talk and text, something called “North America Connect” and increases the premium data bucket to 50 GBs.
The only plan that is clearly post-paid is called “Infinite Access,” which includes just 30 GBs of premium data but allows customers to upgrade their device every year. The plan requires a credit check — as most post-paid plans do at other companies — and costs $65 per month. Customers must purchase a device in order to sign on to the Infinite Access plan, according to an FAQ on the Boost Mobile website.
Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Premium also offer “buy now, pay later” plans, suggesting they may also involve a post-paid arrangement if customers decide to finance a phone through those plans.
If that sounds confusing, well…
“There is too much complexity in the wireless market today,” Hami Akhavan, the CEO and President of Echostar and parent company Boost Mobile, said in a statement. “Boost Mobile is simplifying its digital purchasing experience and offerings to give consumers more flexibility and choice with unbelievable value.”
Akhavan continued: “Today’s announcement is the first step of many designed to further empower Boost Mobile customers. In contrast to other carriers that continue to raise rates, add fees and layer extras into plans that customers simply don’t want or need, Boost is delivering transparent plans that allow customers to buy exactly the services they need, while saving hundreds of dollars annually compared to other wireless carriers.”
Sean Lee, the Senior Vice President of Consumer Product and Marketing at Boost Mobile, said the company was committed to providing “a compelling new choice in wireless,” with plans that are based on a single line of service and add-ons that improve the customer experience for separate fees.
Those add-ons include Boost Protect, which offers AppleCare services for iPhones and similar features for Androids, and Boost Family Guard that allows an account holder to monitor devices of up to 10 family members. Global roaming, voice and texting are also available, as are hotspot features on plans that do not support it. A $3 per month add-on will even transcribe voicemails into text and send them as traditional SMS messages on handsets — mainly Android phones — that otherwise lack visual voicemail features.
Boost Mobile is offering customers a 30-day money back guarantee, but it comes with some strings attached: First, it’s only available to customers who activate one or more lines by transferring, or “porting,” a number into the service. They must also enroll in AutoPay, and request a refund through customer care within the first 30 days of creating an account. For all other customers, including those who have service beyond 30 days, Boost Mobile makes it clear that “once a payment is applied to an account, it is not refundable, transferrable, or exchangeable, and it has no surrender value.”
“We offer transparent, straightforward plans starting at $25 a month on a single line and an extended portfolio of devices for all consumer needs,” Lee said in a statement.
But that transparent pricing doesn’t seem to apply to the $25 per month plan, which is the company’s lowest-priced option. Only the Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Premium plans promise that “monthly taxes” are “included” — which presumably includes all taxes and fees — while the $25 per month plan doesn’t make the same pledge. That means customers who pick the $25 per month option are likely to pay more than $25 per month.
The promise is also conspicuously missing from the $65-per-month “Infinite Access” post-paid plan, which doesn’t advertise the plan as including monthly taxes or fees, suggesting customers will actually pay more than $65 per month.
By comparison, the lowest-priced plan at Verizon’s Visible costs $25 per month and includes access to Verizon’s 4G LTE and 5G networks, with all taxes and fees included in the price. Visible Plus, which unlocks access to Verizon’s 5G ultra-wideband network, costs $45 per month with all taxes and fees included. All taxes and fees are included across Metro by T-Mobile’s lowest-priced options, as well as most base plans at T-Mobile.
