2014 Prepaid News Highlights

As 2014 comes to a close, I like to go back through the old stories and review the top prepaid news that we reported on this year. As it turns out, there were a lot of interesting things that happened including several companies closing, new companies starting and new issues, like smartphone privacy and kill switches became important. So, if you’re feeling a little nostalgic, or somehow missed out on updates this year, here are some of the top stories in the prepaid market for 2014:

Companies that Closed and Opened in 2014

• RadioShack Closed No-Contract Wireless and is going bankrupt. However, they did launch an MVNO for vets
• Chit Chat, Solavei Filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Both are still limping along
• Cellular One Closed Operations in Wyoming, Montana but still operates in other states
• Alltel stores Rebranded to AT&T in Georgia, with other states to come soon
• Vodafone announced intentions to Launch US MVNO
• GSM Nation Launched new MVNO, US Mobile
• TextNow Wireless launched Touch Mobile

Other News

• Carriers Agreed to Work to Provide 911 Call Location Accuracy
• Prepaid MVNOs Outranked Carriers in Consumer Reports, with Ting, Consumer Cellular and Republic Wireless at the top
• Net Neutrality Debate became a hot topic, especially whether or not carriers fall under those rules.
• First Dual-network Roaming was Announced
• Apple SIM made us wonder if a new SIM era was here. It isn’t.
• Apple Pay launched along with the new iPhone 6, and changed the way iPhone users pay for things
• Prepaid Plans Gained Popularity in the U.S. with a jump of around 11% from 2013
• North America Dominates Global LTE with 36% penetration vs 8% for next nearest area
• CA. Required Smartphone Kill Switches starting this year to curb iPhone thefts

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