Prepaid expanding with sights on "light talkers"

Boost Mobile and Cricket wireless which broaden the carriers’ appeal into new demographics. It’s all part of the reason why prepaid growth is outpacing postpaid growth.

This “light-talker” specification is exactly what Bill Ho, analyst for Current Analysis, said prepaid services are all about. Ho divided prepaid customers into three segments: light talkers, moderate talkers and heavy talkers. Light talkers go for the pay-as-you-go services, paying minute by minute, he said, while the moderate talkers will be likely to sign up for the hybrid or bundled prepaid plans. Heavy talkers are the people that the top-tier carriers go after because they’ll spend a little more, Ho said. “Carriers are trying to pick and choose and get the most ARPU they can get in the prepaid space,” he said. “Just because you’re in a prepay segment doesn’t mean you don’t have any money.”

Emphasis mine. This is an important point that many of us seemingly overlook. It’s been assumed since the beginning that prepaid was for people who don’t have enough money to buy a postpaid cell phone plan — or who have bad credit. As we’ve been saying since the inception of Prepaid Reviews, that is changing quickly. Prepaid is an economical option, yes, but economical solutions aren’t just for those without money. Ho goes on to praise Verizon INpulse (“they’re willing to pay for the network”), though he isn’t as high on AT&T Go Phone:

“AT&T should be doing something,” he said. “From a competitive standpoint, they’re weak right now, relative to the competition and they’ve got a lot to lose because they’ve been adding a lot of prepaid people in the past, and in the last quarter, they didn’t do so hot.”

Oh, AT&T has done plenty. Namely, eliminating unlimited MEdiaNet and hiking a la carte text messaging to 20 cents. Honestly, I think another sign of prepaid growth is the fact that an entire RCR column was dedicated to the subject. It’s rare to see the major rags give this kind of attention to prepaid. Let’s hope we see more of it.]]>