Speak Out Wireless - current info?

George wrote:
> It would be nice if 7/11 had a website for their prepaid service,
> but I guess not.

They claim to have "http://www.7-elevenspeakoutwireless.com/" but it
doesn't exist. It's been registered since February 2004.

> Cellguru shows the current monthly fee as $1.25. Is that the same
> throughout the U.S., or does it vary by location?
>
> He also mentions a 75-cent fee of some kind associated with buying
> time, or activating (it's not clear) - can someone say what is and
> how often it's charged?

I don't think that there is any 75¢ fee for buying time. I just bought
$25 worth of time, and the balance is $25.

"http://www.7-eleven.com/products/docs/SpeakOutBrochure_eng.pdf" is the
only thing I was ever able to find, but it may not be accurate if
Cellguru has different numbers.

> Is it 20 cents per minute from anywhere in the Cingular network?

Yes. Only roaming onto other GSM systems costs extra.

The reality is that PagePlus Cellular "http://www.pagepluscellular.com/"
is a much better deal than SpeakOut. It has cheaper rates, a web site,
and far better coverage than SpeakOut, since it uses Verizon's superior
network (and it can use the AMPS networks). The negative is that they
have only a 120 day airtime expiration, as opposed to 365 days for
SpeakOut. Airtime on PagePlus is as low as 10¢ per minute, at least in
theory, because there apparently is no way to but their $80/800 minutes
card. Also, I was unable to buy time on their web site with a Visa or
Amex card, only Discover would work for me.

I keep the Speakout service as I often want to check on Cingular
coverage for some consulting work I do, and it's the cheapest Cingular
service you can get.

I get the feeling that SpeakOut has not been very successful, and no
doubt this is due to both their lack of an on-line presence, and their
relatively high per minute rate (though the lack of daily fees, and the
long expiration time are supposed to make up for that). The fact that
they don't have a web site, three years after the service was launched,
indicates that SpeakOut may not be around all that long.

---

› See More: Speak Out Wireless - current info?

At 08 Jan 2007 09:21:36 -0800 SMS wrote:

> They claim to have "http://www.7-elevenspeakoutwireless.com/" but it
> doesn't exist. It's been registered since February 2004.


> "http://www.7-eleven.com/products/docs/SpeakOutBrochure_eng.pdf" is the
> only thing I was ever able to find, but it may not be accurate
> if Cellguru has different numbers.
>
> > Is it 20 cents per minute from anywhere in the Cingular network?
>
> Yes. Only roaming onto other GSM systems costs extra.


If it's even possible! Despite the brochure claiming an extra fee for
off-net roaming, I'm not sure if off-net roaming is even possible- some
of the HoFo'ers using it seem skeptical.

> I get the feeling that SpeakOut has not been very successful, and no
> doubt this is due to both their lack of an on-line presence, and their
> relatively high per minute rate (though the lack of daily fees, and the
> long expiration time are supposed to make up for that). The fact that
> they don't have a web site, three years after the service was launched,
> indicates that SpeakOut may not be around all that long.

Speakout is really a "virtual" virtual network operator. They are a name-
branding of Ztar Mobile (www.ztarmobile.com) who also operates similar
services for a different convenience store chain (Circle K, IIRC),
Speakout Wireless Canada, and "Bratz Mobile" featuring Bratz doll-themed
phones.

As to the lack of a website, because they market through retailers, I
assume the strategy is to lure you back into the store instead of the web
to buy more airtime and pick up a Slurpee and some Slim Jims while you're
at it. ;-)

Todd Allcock wrote:

> As to the lack of a website, because they market through retailers, I
> assume the strategy is to lure you back into the store instead of the web
> to buy more airtime and pick up a Slurpee and some Slim Jims while you're
> at it. ;-)

True, but you can also buy time from your phone.

George wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>
> > The reality is that PagePlus Cellular
> > "http://www.pagepluscellular.com/" is a much better deal
> > than SpeakOut. It has cheaper rates, a web site, and far
> > better coverage than SpeakOut, since it uses Verizon's
> > superior network (and it can use the AMPS networks). The
> > negative is that they have only a 120 day airtime
> > expiration, as opposed to 365 days for SpeakOut. Airtime
> > on PagePlus is as low as 10¢ per minute, at least in
> > theory, because there apparently is no way to but their
> > $80/800 minutes card. Also, I was unable to buy time on
> > their web site with a Visa or Amex card, only Discover
> > would work for me.
>
> "Their" website means the PagePlus website?

Yes.

> Do others have
> this problem? I only have a Visa. So, I guess I could get
> minutes at GetTalkTime or on eBay?

Visa is supposed to work, but I could never get it to go through. Amex
is a choice on the payment page, but actually they don't take Amex. I
think I could have used Visa if I had called PagePlus to buy time, as
they offered to run it through for me, but I preferred to do it on-line,
so I used Discover, which I hate using.

> > I keep the Speakout service as I often want to check on
> > Cingular coverage for some consulting work I do, and
> > it's the cheapest Cingular service you can get.
>
> Yes, but Airvoice comes pretty close. It's $10 every 90
> days, which still isn't bad.

It's a better deal, though worse than PagePlus. I think the attraction
of SpeakOut was solely the 365 day expiration, it's a true "emergency
only phone," kind of like the T-Mobile prepaid once you get gold status
with a $100 card. If T-Mobile let your roam onto Cingular, on their
prepaid, even at an extra charge, it would be an awesome plan.

<anip>

> Yeah, and I see comments here and there that a lot of
> 7-Eleven stores don't carry the phones or even the pins.
> It's hard to see that their heart's really in this.

Most of the stores where I am have some phones, but there is no real
promotion of the service. Most of the kids around here piggy-back onto
their parents plan, with a family plan, and we don't have a lot of
credit-challenged individuals that would opt for prepaid.

At 09 Jan 2007 01:56:08 -0800 SMS wrote:
> Todd Allcock wrote:
>
> > As to the lack of a website, because they market through retailers, I
> > assume the strategy is to lure you back into the store instead of the
> > web to buy more airtime and pick up a Slurpee and some Slim Jims
> > while you're at it. ;-)
>
> True, but you can also buy time from your phone.

I realize that, but these days that's pretty much expected or else you
run the risk of alienating customers who run out of airtime mid-call and
need to get back to it ASAP.

BTW, 7-11/Speakout is now also offering Sprint service (with PTT walkie-
talkie phones) in addition to their Cingular service, which makes their
in-store marketing even more confusing, since their brochures now have
seperate maps for different phones!

At 09 Jan 2007 08:37:14 -0800 SMS wrote:

> Most of the stores where I am have some phones, but there is no real
> promotion of the service. Most of the kids around here piggy-back onto
> their parents plan, with a family plan, and we don't have a lot of
credit-
> challenged individuals that would opt for prepaid.
>

True, but I think that's area-specific. In the relatively well-off
suburb I live in, the 7-11's don't promote Speakout or even stock many
phones, but in the downtown Denver stores you find them prominently
displayed.

Todd Allcock <[email protected]> wrote:
> At 09 Jan 2007 08:37:14 -0800 SMS wrote:
>
> > Most of the stores where I am have some phones, but there is no real
> > promotion of the service. Most of the kids around here piggy-back onto
> > their parents plan, with a family plan, and we don't have a lot of
> > credit-challenged individuals that would opt for prepaid.
>
> True, but I think that's area-specific. In the relatively well-off
> suburb I live in, the 7-11's don't promote Speakout or even stock many
> phones, but in the downtown Denver stores you find them prominently
> displayed.

Interesting that prepaid gets immediately associated with
credit-challenged by y'all (or maybe only SMS). :-) My wife is pretty far
from credit-challenged, but she uses a prepaid just because she only uses
about 5 minutes every few months (and I don't even have one)...

brian
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At 09 Jan 2007 18:57:20 +0000 Brian Beuchaw wrote:

> Interesting that prepaid gets immediately associated with
> credit-challenged by y'all (or maybe only SMS). :-)

I don't think we're saying that at all- but prepaid is still primarily
marketed that
way, unfortunately.

Personally, I think I was ahead of the curve- I was a SBMS (eventually
Cingular) dealer in the late 90s and I used to push prepaid very hard to
low-usage customers (especially the elderly, who usually wanted an
"emergency phone" for the glovebox,) even though the conventional wisdom
was to only offer prepaid after someone failed a credit check for
contract service. I sold a ton of prepaid service to folks that would've
had no trouble passing a credit check, and this was back when airtime was
65-cents/min. However, SBMS offered $20 refills with 180-day expiration
dates, making the monthly cost $3, vs. the then $20+taxes/month "low
usage" contract plan which, IIRC, offered only 30 minutes a month- about
the same per minute rate as prepaid anyway.

> My wife is pretty far
> from credit-challenged, but she uses a prepaid just because she only
uses
> about 5 minutes every few months

My wife uses prepaid as well. She averages 100 minutes a month, which
with T-Mobile's 10-cent/min rate is still cheaper than any contract plan.
The only thing holding me back from prepaid is data. If T-Mo offers a
reasonable pre-paid data plan anytime soon, I'll switch to prepaid as well,


as I use only 200-300/minutes a month, but a lot of data (which T-Mo
offers unlimited for $5/month on top of a post-paid voiceplan.)

> (and I don't even have one)...

Yet you read the alt.cellular newsgroup? ;-)

Brian Beuchaw wrote:

> Interesting that prepaid gets immediately associated with
> credit-challenged by y'all (or maybe only SMS). :-) My wife is pretty far
> from credit-challenged, but she uses a prepaid just because she only uses
> about 5 minutes every few months (and I don't even have one)...

Yeah, as soon as I posted that I realized that I shouldn't have said
that. I gave my daughter a prepaid PagePlus phone, and my mother dumped
Cingular for prepaid T-Mobile, and both of us don't have credit problems
that would dictate prepaid. Prepaid is a much better deal for an
occasional use phone, as long as you stick with the MVNOs or T-Mobile.

Todd Allcock <[email protected]> wrote:
> At 09 Jan 2007 18:57:20 +0000 Brian Beuchaw wrote:
>
> > Interesting that prepaid gets immediately associated with
> > credit-challenged by y'all (or maybe only SMS). :-)
>
> I don't think we're saying that at all- but prepaid is still primarily
> marketed that way, unfortunately.

Yeah, that is true, unfortunately... Marketing, gotta love it. :-(

> > (and I don't even have one)...
>
> Yet you read the alt.cellular newsgroup? ;-)

Only to find the best prepaid plan since her Cingular one is going away
on 3/31. :-) And y'all have been very helpful - don't know which one
she's gonna end up with, but there was a great thread a few weeks back
about best prepaid, so thanks to all who participated in that one with all
the helpful info!

brian
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Todd Allcock wrote:
> At 09 Jan 2007 18:57:20 +0000 Brian Beuchaw wrote:
>
>> Interesting that prepaid gets immediately associated with
>> credit-challenged by y'all (or maybe only SMS). :-)
>
> I don't think we're saying that at all- but prepaid is still primarily
> marketed that way, unfortunately.

A big part of this is that other than for T-Mobile, the carrier's own
prepaid plans are poor deals that you would only sign up for if you
couldn't qualify for a post-paid plan. They intentionally want to
discourage prepaid sign-ups by making their prepaid plans unattractive.

The MVNOs, at least some of them, offer very good deals for occasional
use service. You want to stay away from Virgin, Boost, Disney, Net10,
Tracfone etc., and look at services like PagePlus, and Airvoice.

T-Mobile prepaid, while a good deal once you become "gold" by adding
$100 to your account, doesn't allow roaming onto Cingular's 800 MHz GSM
network, so coverage is limited.

The old Beyond Wireless TDMA plan was good, but their GSM plan is poor.

George wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>
> > You want to stay away from Virgin, Boost, Disney, Net10,
> > Tracfone etc.
>
> Is your problem with Virgin based on the Sprint network
> not being so good, or something else?

It's that unlike Sprint service on the Sprint network, Virgin prohibits
roaming onto other CDMA and AMPS networks. Real Sprint service is made
acceptable by the fact that users can roam onto most other CDMA networks
in areas where Sprint doesn't have native coverage, which is a lot of areas.

SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
> Todd Allcock wrote:
> > At 09 Jan 2007 18:57:20 +0000 Brian Beuchaw wrote:
> >
> >> Interesting that prepaid gets immediately associated with
> >> credit-challenged by y'all (or maybe only SMS). :-)
> >
> > I don't think we're saying that at all- but prepaid is still primarily
> > marketed that way, unfortunately.
>
> A big part of this is that other than for T-Mobile, the carrier's own
> prepaid plans are poor deals that you would only sign up for if you
> couldn't qualify for a post-paid plan. They intentionally want to
> discourage prepaid sign-ups by making their prepaid plans unattractive.

Yep, good point!

> The MVNOs, at least some of them, offer very good deals for occasional
> use service. You want to stay away from Virgin, Boost, Disney, Net10,
> Tracfone etc., and look at services like PagePlus, and Airvoice.

I think (can't remember definitely, but I've got the posts saved) that the
ones that looked best (as far as per-minute cost, long expiration time)
were T-Mobile and PagePlus...

> T-Mobile prepaid, while a good deal once you become "gold" by adding
> $100 to your account, doesn't allow roaming onto Cingular's 800 MHz GSM
> network, so coverage is limited.
>
> The old Beyond Wireless TDMA plan was good, but their GSM plan is poor.

Thanks again for all the informative posts on this...

brian
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At 10 Jan 2007 16:17:44 -0800 SMS wrote:

> > I don't think we're saying that at all- but prepaid is still primarily
> > marketed that way, unfortunately.
>
> A big part of this is that other than for T-Mobile, the carrier's own
> prepaid plans are poor deals that you would only sign up for if you
> couldn't qualify for a post-paid plan. They intentionally want to
> discourage prepaid sign-ups by making their prepaid plans unattractive.

I'm not sure that's fair- if they wanted to "discourage sign-ups" they
could simply not offer prepaid, or leave it to MVNOs (like Sprint.)

They seem to want to avoid having prepaid impact sales of contract service,

but prepaid is a competitive market, so they sell it on their relative
strengths- i.e. Verizon pushes "in" and "the network" and charges higher
rates than other prepaid options. Is that surprising? They charge more
on monthly plans too, by pushing "in" and "the network" as well. As far
as Cingular, I don't know what they're thinking, but that's not
surprising to me either! ;-) Perhaps they've priced their service higher
so as to not compete with their own MVNOs, or they simply pay so little
attention to prepaid that they simply don't bother tweaking it as often as,

say, T-Mo has over the last few years.


> The MVNOs, at least some of them, offer very good deals for occasional
> use service. You want to stay away from Virgin, Boost, Disney, Net10,
> Tracfone etc., and look at services like PagePlus, and Airvoice.
>
> T-Mobile prepaid, while a good deal once you become "gold" by adding
> $100 to your account, doesn't allow roaming onto Cingular's 800 MHz GSM
> network, so coverage is limited.

True, but to be fair, T-Mo prepaid coverage has expanded geometrically in
the last year. The coverage map is much closer to the post-paid map than
ever. T-Mo prepaid once offered very little roaming, nows there's a ton,
and at no extra cost.

> The old Beyond Wireless TDMA plan was good, but their GSM plan is poor.

Beyond TDMA was great- it allowed off net roaming (albeit at 60-
cents/minute.) I've roamed on Verizon with Beyond- a trick that no AT&T
or Cingular prepaid plan would've allowed!

March 1st (or 31st, depending on what info from Beyond you believe) will
be a sad day in wireless!


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At 11 Jan 2007 16:10:03 -0600 George wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> > T-Mo prepaid once offered very
> > little roaming, nows there's a ton, and at no extra
> > cost.
>
> Roaming with whom? Cingular? Both bands?

Both bands now, but very little with Cingular. Mostly the smaller
local/regional GSM carriers (Viaero, Westlink, Iowa Wireless, etc.) and
Alltel (who, while a CDMA carrier, operates some GSM capacity in some
markets to soak some roaming revenue out of Cingular and T-Mo.)

Also, T-Mo prepaid now roams in Canada and Mexico. (Just got back from
Cancun and had roaming coverage on Movistar, albeit at $1.49/minute. It
was painful to watch my PPD balance drop an hour after a four-minute
call!) ;-)



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