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T-Mobile has become the number one prepaid wireless provider in the US. Surpassing all other carriers in this space, specifically the old king of prepaid-Sprint. Now through that same market, T-Mobile will be launching something new called “Simply Prepaid.” News broke of this as the description for their booth at the CTIA’s Super Mobility Week show next month. While many details are still unclear, it shows an interesting method of delivering prepaid services to consumers.
In total, T-Mobile has gained 15.64 million prepaid customers, and that number shows no sign of slowing down. With numbers like that, T-Mobile has taken over as the number one provider for prepaid services in the US. Before T-Mobile was crowned as number one, Sprint held that place with 15.19 million prepaid customers. One of the ways that T-Mobile has gained so many customers, is by launching different Mobile Virtual Network Operators or MVNO’s.
Some of the companies that T-Mobile has that operate solely as prepaid carriers are Ultra Mobile, GoSmart, Univision Mobile, and their very own offerings through T-Mobile themselves. T-Mobile also acquired Metro PCS which is another prepaid carrier in the US. In the description for their booth at the show, T-Mobile said, “T-Mobile introduces Simply Prepaid, a new concept that brings together four amazing brands under one roof. Customers can choose from T-Mobile, GoSmart Mobile, Univision Mobile, or Ultra Mobile, easily finding the perfect wireless solution to suit their lifestyle and budget,” though something was missing.
Metro PCS was left out of the description, which begs the question, why haven’t they added Metro PCS to the list? It is entirely possible that T-Mobile wants to keep Metro (one of their most profitable prepaid carriers) as a stand alone carrier. Metro PCS could remain operating with little to no problem. In fact, Metro PCS has helped the company’s revenue jump 15 percent. T-Mobile has almost finished shutting down Metro PCS’ CDMA network and have almost seamlessly transitioned all customers to T-Mobile’s GSM network. While the entire transition is expected to cost T-Mobile between $250 to $300 million this year alone to do, T-Mobile will be set to gain more in the long term.