AT&T is looking to counter the likes of Sprint’s Virgin and T-Mobile with a discount on some older iPhones on its $45 prepaid plan. The action comes as one research report found growing interest among consumers in prepaid offerings.
Specifically, AT&T plans to sell a 32GB iPhone 6s for $344.99 and an iPhone 6s Plus with the same storage for $444.99. That price includes a month of the operator’s $45 per month prepaid service—thereby lowering the price of the 6s to $300 and the price of the 6s Plus to $400.
Those offers dovetail with the carrier’s current offer of an iPhone SE for $194.99 and the iPhone 6 for $244.99—those prices also include a month of service on the operator’s $45 per month plan.
AT&T’s $45 per month plan offers 6 GB of data alongside unlimited talking and texting. The plan sits in the middle of AT&T’s prepaid offerings; the carrier also offers an unlimited data option for $65 and a 1 GB per month offering at $35 per month.
The news was first reported by 9to5Mac and subsequently confirmed to FierceWireless by a source close to the company.
As 9to5Mac noted, the offers are essentially a move by AT&T to counter similar offers by Sprint’s Virgin Mobile and T-Mobile.
And, as a recent report from Parks Associates noted, consumers are increasingly drawn to the simplified pricing offers in prepaid. The firm said that “currently postpaid carriers are starting to explore new value-added services such as bundled entertainment packages as new upsell options,” according to a release.
Also in its report, Parks Associates reported that only 39% of mobile subscribers have made a plan change in the past 12 months, typically either a plan upgrade or a new phone. And the firm said that one-third of mobile customers have not made any changes in their mobile services for more than two years.
The actions by AT&T come roughly six months after the company rebranded its GoPhone prepaid service as simply AT&T Prepaid.