Straight Talk, Tracfone and Net Zero have finally explained their "unlimited plans" after coming under scrutiny during a lawsuit brought on my customers who claimed the Tracfone unlimited service wasn't really unlimited. Straight Talk is a Walmart exclusive and you can only buy refill cards from Walmart or the Straight Talk website.
Tracfone never tells the customer what carrier the phone uses, but many have concluded it is either T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint or Verizon Wireless depending upon the area of coverage. Previously some users thought they were being throttled at 1.5GB while we were told by a PR representative that throttling happened at 2.5GB of data usage.
The Straight Talk website has been updated with information that now shows "unlimited" with an asterik showing the real term and the phrase "Check out our latest Terms and Conditions of service for details.
The throttling policy applies to all Straight Talk and Net10 BYOP products as well as all carrier-compatible SIMs, including the Net10 BYOP(Bring Your Own Phone) with AT&T-compatible phones.
We just heard that in some areas you may be get a Verizon Wireless phone from Tracfone when there is no other kind of coverage. We can't tell how you can be sure to get Verizon Wireless coverage. If your phone has SIM, it is most likely running on the T-Mobile network or possibly AT&T.
Tracfone serves over 23 million customers. If you pay for an entire year, you get a discount
Staight Talk's 30-day $45 unlimited plans and $60 international long plans include 2.5GB of high-speed data then throttled through the rest of 30 day cycle. High speed data is restored when a new 30-day service plan is added.
The only prepaid carrier to beat Straight Talk's prices is Virgin Mobile where the price of the iPhone 4 is down to $199.99 while Straight Talk sells an iPhone 4 for $350.
Straight Talk offers the options of buying an AT&T compatible or T-Mobile compatible SIM. Straight Talk SIM does not work with the $30 All You Need Plan.
Cheapest plan the "All You Need Plan" includes 1,000 minutes, 1,000 Text messages and 30MB of data.
When you buy the SIM from Straight Talk it states:
- SIM + Unlimited* Service Plan.
- Includes a $45.00/30 Day Service Plan Card.
- Unlimited Talk & Unlimited Text / MMS messages Nationwide.
- Unlimited Data / Mobile Web Access / Email.
- Unlimited Calls to 411.
When you read the fine print, video watchers should be leery.
Straight Talk Unlimited Talk, Text and Data Plans may ONLY be used with a Straight Talk handset or SIM Card for the following purposes:
- (i) Person to Person Voice Calls.
- (ii) Text and Picture Messaging, and (iii) Internet browsing and ordinary content Downloads.
- The Straight Talk Unlimited Plan MAY NOT be used for unauthorized uses that adversely impact our service. Examples of unauthorized uses include, without limitation, the following:
- (i) continuous uninterrupted mobile to mobile or mobile to landline voice calls.
- (ii) automated text or picture messaging to another mobile device or e-mail address.
- (iii) uploading, downloading or streaming of uninterrupted continuous video;
- (iv) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing; or
- (v) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. A person engaged in unauthorized uses may have his/her service throttled and/or terminated. In some circumstances, Customers may be provided notice and an opportunity to take corrective action with respect to unauthorized uses before their service is terminated