BUCKS WATCH
The Skinny on Boost Mobile - According to a recent study thirty percent of parents who have a teen on their wireless plan report that they often run out of minutes and end up paying overage charges. Boost Mobile, Nextel's youth-oriented pay-as-you-go wireless service, has recently begun marketing itself heavily to these talkative members of Generations X and Y. Parents of children who are enticed by the flashy advertisements' tagline of "Where you at?" may want to consider some of the specifics of the service before shelling out $59.99-$319.99 (plus a $10 activation fee) for a new Boost Mobile phone. As with most pay-as-you go services, Boost Mobile minutes are paid for by purchasing "re-boost" cards online, via credit cards on the phones themselves, or at retailers such as Best Buy, Target, 7-11, and Sam Goody. Boost Mobile sells "re-boost" cards in denominations of $20, $30, and $50 with a re-boost necessary at least once every ninety days to keep the account active. One of the draws of Boost Mobile is that users have access to Nextel's popular walkie-talkie service which they can use to communicate instantly with other Boost Mobile and Nextel subscribers. Consumers should be aware that using the walkie-talkie service deducts $1.50 every day the service is used for unlimited use. Regular phone calls on Boost Mobile cost 25¢ per minute twenty-four hours a day, with roaming and long distance calls included at no additional cost. Boost Mobile also advertised its large selection of youth-friendly features such as downloadable ringtones and wallpapers. Users will pay for these perks, however. Ringtones cost on average $1.99 per ringtone. Wallpaper is priced at $1.49 per download. Furthermore, retrieving voicemails cost 25¢ per minute. Additionally, wireless web access costs 20¢ per day. As with most prepaid wireless plans, Boost Mobile is an intriguing option for consumers who are light callers or who are having a tough time sticking to monthly minute limits. Consumers looking for prepaid wireless phone plan focused more on calling instead of on add-ons may want to look at some of Boost's competitors including TracFone (whose rates tend to be more expensive than Boost's), T-Mobile EasySpeak, and AT&T's GoPhone and Free2Go plans. Consumers who are making more than 200-300 minutes of calling per month and who are not getting hit with frequent overage charges should probably consider a traditional post-paid wireless plan instead. For more information on pre-paid cell phone plans, check out the June 11, 2004 edition of TRACNotes by clicking here(i) .
WIRELESS WATCH
Wireless Phone Directory Consumer Facts - Most of the nations' largest wireless carriers have announced that consumers will soon be able to list their wireless phone numbers with a national 411 directory assistance service. Starting in 2005, the service will give existing subscribers the choice of including their wireless phone numbers in voice 411. It will allow any landline or a wireless phone user to call 411 and be connected to the wireless listing of a person who has chosen to participate in the service. New wireless subscribers and subscribers switching carriers, however, will need to opt out of the 411 listing service to be excluded from the directory. Legislation currently making its way through Congress could enshrine the opt-in provision in law. The directory will be maintained by Portland, Oregon-based Qsent and provided to the carriers' 411 services on an as-needed basis -- meaning only when someone calls 411 and specifically asks for a person's number. Consumers' number will not be listed in a physical directory or kept in 411 operators' databases. According to the agreement between wireless carriers AllTel, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint PCS, and T-Mobile and the wireless industry professional association, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA™), Qsent will be the sole holder of consumers' wireless phone numbers. Verizon Wireless subscribers should note, however, that Verizon has chosen to opt-out of the Wireless 411 Directory. For more information on the Wireless 411 Directory, click here(ii) or visit www.qsent.com.
Wireless 411: Yea or Nea? - Is the new wireless 411 service a good thing or a bad thing? We would like to hear how TRACNotes readers feel about this service. How likely would you be to opt-in to the new service? Does Verizon Wireless' decision to opt-out from the new service make you more likely to switch to or away from that company? We encourage readers to e-mail us at trac@trac.org with their thoughts. If we choose to print your submission, we'll send you a complimentary copy of the TeleTips Consumer Guide to Wireless Service. Please be sure to note where you are writing from, as we do not print the names of readers in TRACNotes.
TRAC IN THE NEWS
Getting a Reign On Out of Control Wireless Costs - Last week's edition of TRACNotes mentioned TRAC's quote in the October edition of Money magazine. The full article is now available online at http://money.cnn.com or by clicking here(iii).
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page - http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions - http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
What do you think? Got a tip you want to share? Nominate your "Scam of the Week" and your "Tip of the Week" - If we select your submission, we'll give you a one-year free membership in TRAC and acknowledge your contribution by name in TRACNotes. Send an e-mail to trac@trac.org to submit your ideas!
TRACNotes is distributed to TRAC members and those who have signed up on the TRAC website "Newscenter." If you do not want to receive TRACNotes, simply click here and let us know(iv). You won't receive these in the future. We hope you choose to remain a part of our network, and that you find TRACNotes helpful. Our goal is to provide you useful information about what is happening in the telecommunications marketplace for consumers and to keep you up to date on TRAC's policy advocacy. If you like what you see, please consider becoming a member of TRAC by clicking here(v).
©2004 Telecommunications Research and Action Center. TRAC grants unlimited rights to reproduce TRACNotes or any information contained in it provided attribution is given as follows: "Source:Telecommunications Research and Action Center. http://www.trac.org"
Endnotes
