T-Mobile Prepaid Gains Customers as it Faces Tough Competition

T-Mobile faces tough competition in a tough market, but still managed to gain 350,000 new prepaid subscribers in the third quarter. This marks a trend of growing interest in prepaid cell phone use, for while the rest of the company is having difficulties, the prepaid division is growing.

There are many reasons for the growth in this part of the company, as the tough economic climate encourages consumers to look for ways to cut expenses. One place to start is with the phone bill. Because pay as you go plans offer fewer bells and whistles and are generally for lighter cell phone users, prepaid is popular. You also don't have to typically sign a contract.

Another article at a consumer blog had some good words to say about T-Mobile's prepaid service. "With T-mobile you can buy 1,000 minutes that are good for one year for $100 plus tax. (If you refill your account before the expiration date, you can carry over those minutes.) That works out to less than $10 a month for 80 minutes, ample for anyone who carries a phone mostly for emergencies or occasional calls when they're traveling or running late." - Consumerist article: Prepaid Cellphones Aren't Just for Losers Anymore.

A third article about the popular wireless provider--this one in Business Week is titled T-Mobile USA Adds Mostly Prepaid Subscribers in the 4th Quarter. Read more about prepaid cell phones.

Here's an excerpt from the article: "The large proportion of new prepaid customers, who generally pay less than customers under contract, sets T-Mobile USA apart from other U.S. carriers. It added 621,000 new customers in the last three months of 2008, of which 57 percent were prepaid. That figure include customers on FlexPay plans that lack contracts but have some of the same features, such as a monthly bucket of minutes and free calls on nights and weekends."

Again, these facts are emblematic of a sea change in the cell phone industry: the growing trend of prepaid popularity.

Read more about T-Mobile prepaid.