verizon's acquisition of tracfone

[Schandyman]

very fascinated that tmobile sprint merger took years yet verizon took over tracfone in a years time. any brains on here know more about this transaction and what it means for the other mvno's that umbrella under tracfone? my biggest concern is that i'll get booted off tmobile network and be sent a vz sim.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Tracfone was just an MVNO - it did not own any network; hence the acquisition by Verizon was fairly straightforward, unlike the merger of Tmobile and Sprint, each with its own large network infrastructure. Can't really compare the two transactions.

 

[Schandyman]

yes i understand tracfone being an mvno which the parent company at the time América Móvil, had contracts to use wireless networks.

Tracfone was just an MVNO - it did not own any network; hence the acquisition by Verizon was fairly straightforward, unlike the merger of Tmobile and Sprint, each with its own large network infrastructure. Can't really compare the two transactions.

 

[Quattro Pete]

my biggest concern is that i'll get booted off tmobile network and be sent a vz sim.

Maybe not immediately, but eventually they'll be trying to entice you to move over to the Verizon network, is my guess.

https://www.androidcentral.com/verizon-buying-tracfone-faq-how-will-it-affect-customers

 

[bullwinkle]

Hope this means my Tracfone voice & data LTE will be exclusively VZ now! I'm not sure most Tracfone users can afford VZ prices, they'll just go somewhere else (T-Mobile, Sprint prepaid [such as Virgin Mobile], Cricket, etc.). I'm not sure Sprint & T-Mobile have fully merged their networks yet(?)

 

[40w8]

I've been paying $7/month for Tello for several years. Works great for the little I wanna use it.

Wifey pays $80/month so she can use Samsung phone for net and phone. I use desktop for this.

 

[Racer4]

I have been using Tracfone for years really like their service. I am on the AT&T network I pay less than $23 dollars a month unlimited talk & text and 1 gig of data. I do not use much data and it builds up monthly. Hope they will not force changing service.

 

[Rand]

I use total wireless which is tracfone and already have vz towers and data
81+ tax for 3 lines and 60GB data.

expecting no disruption.. they raise prices I got other options if its more than a couple bux.

 

[Schandyman]

i pay around $30 with taxes on simple mobile which runs off tmobile simple mobile is under the tracfone brand. i have been very happy with their cell coverage and data speeds hope all remains the same as time will tell. otherwise i will just move on.

 

[Schandyman]

I've been paying $7/month for Tello for several years. Works great for the little I wanna use it.

Wifey pays $80/month so she can use Samsung phone for net and phone. I use desktop for this.

80 bucks for one line yikes!!

 

[supton]

I've been using Tracfone for years and am hoping it stays the same, if not better. Verizon towers are the only thing that work around here, so perhaps being on the same network will fix a couple issues I've had over the years with coverage.

Also hoping for no price increase but nothing stays the same forever.

 

[Dave9]

^ You could (should) have already had a Tracfone using Verizon towers, so then there would be zero difference in coverage. Same towers are used, TF is only a MVNO. Verizon buying them doesn't change anything in this regard.

I expect some price increases, especially getting rid of phones bundled with 1500 text/data/minutes for cheap. I don't even see how they were making money on deals like this (below, currently $60), except if the owner burns through the buckets and has to supplement them:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284189086324

I suppose they could consider it a new customer acquisition cost, except a lot of existing customers just buy a new phone every year or two and transfer their existing account over to it.

 

[jhellwig]

Huh. I thought Verizon already owned trac phone.

 

[supton]

^ You could (should) have already had a Tracfone using Verizon towers, so then there would be zero difference in coverage. Same towers are used, TF is only a MVNO. Verizon buying them doesn't change anything in this regard.

Tracfone coverage is spotty in the town next to me--it loves to tell me that I'm roaming.

 

[Dave9]

^ What carrier does your phone use? As mentioned you can get a new phone that uses Verizon's towers on Tracfone right now and transfer your account to it, if yours doesn't. Some phones only need a new SIM, which is cheap if not free on ebay from time to time.

 

[supton]

^ What carrier does your phone use? As mentioned you can get a new phone that uses Verizon's towers on Tracfone right now and transfer your account to it, if yours doesn't. Some phones only need a new SIM, which is cheap if not free on ebay from time to time.

Have to make sure I get something CDMA else there is no coverage out here. So I did that, have an iPhone 6S. [My first phone was a GSM by accident and so for the first few years I owned a phone that didn't work within a 20 mile radius of home. Oops.]

I suspect the problem area just lacks towers. Lots of deadzones around here. Maybe I get the roaming message when there is only one tower being heard? no idea. Sometimes just trying to make the call several times "fixes" it, other times I just give up. It's the town over so I usually get lucky and don't have to worry about it, but sometimes it's just handy to have a phone, ya know.

 

[Schandyman]

Verizon will want to cut expenses eventually and that’ll be killing off the brands that fell under the tracfone parent name. Simple mobile, straight talk, page plus, net 10, family mobile, total wireless and I can be missing a few. So if you’re already on a vz SIM card from one of those mvno’s you may not experience any problems. Att and T-Mobile network sims will be axed at a later date

 

[92saturnsl2]

There are so many MVNOs out there competing for business that I wouldn't worry about Tracfone going to the dark side one bit.

The wife and I were in the phone service switching dilemma this same time last year. Ditch Verizon's $50 per line and try an MVNO? We did and have been saving a ton of money. I switched over to Mint (T-Mobile network) for $20 a month - unlimited talk/text/10GB data. That price requires prepaying for a year. Zero complaints.

The wife decided she didn't like Mint/T-mobile because the service wasn't PERFECT while driving in some very rural areas (she likes to talk and drive, which I don't do), so I switched her to AT&T via Redpocket. Same price as Mint, but I think she only gets 8GB data. Redpocket allows you to choose your carrier, $20 a month for 8GB data, you have to prepay for a year for that price. We tried Verizon via Redpocket, but Verizon subcontracts to a 3rd party company (Bluegrass Wireless) for service in our area, and we didn't get that perk with Redpocket which meant we had zero service in huge swaths of Kentucky, including where we live. But AT&T with Redpocket has been working fabulous. I learned about Redpocket from posting on this forum, and I'd like to thank the guy that suggested it a hundred times over. EDIT- Redpocket prices went up to $22.50 per month (prepaid for a year), but includes 10GB of data now.

I only mention this because another poster mentioned paying $23/mo for service with 1GB data. If that's Tracfone's best deal, I wouldn't sweat it. Lots of great options out there.

 

[40w8]

80 bucks for one line yikes!!

That's Verizon on a Verizon Galaxy note 5. Part of that is we have to pay $15/month for World calling to Indonesia. The US phone companies are Oligarches and ripoff agents. In Indonesia she can call with prepaid time in her phone # for maybe $10/month. I can call US from there for about $1 for a 15 minute call, and the sounds is much better than US calls.

I pull my hair out to help wifey not get ripped off. Most all of our fights have to do with phone and cable companies not giving her something decent, and it's like it's my fault! I'd say, well lets turn off cable for 3 months, and she'd say: "They'll give that fiber cable to someone else in neighborhood". All companies will rip if you don't whine, and maybe even then.

 

[mk378]

Some MVNOs specialize in international calls. For example a standard feature of Red Pocket is unlimited calling to 80 countries, including Indonesia.