Boost Mobile continues retail expansion

Forging ahead with plans to increase its retail visibility, Boost Mobile inked a new distribution deal with mobile electronics and wireless retailer Car Toys. Boost, Sprint Nextel's prepaid unit, said its phones and services will now be available at Car Toys' 49 retail stores in Colorado, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

The move follows Boost's announcement last month that it would open 50 new exclusive retail stores throughout the country by the end of the year.

"What's important to us is street visibility," Boost Mobile President Matt Carter told Reuters in an interview in May. "We think it's going to help us quite a lot."

Boost brought in 764,000 prepaid iDEN subscribers to Sprint in the first quarter, and has touted its $50 per month unlimited voice, data and texting plan as a solid value proposition in the economic recession. However, Boost has also acknowledged that its network was "overwhelmed" by the amount of traffic it received due to the $50 offering, which reportedly caused text messaging delays. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said during Sprint's first quarter earnings conference call that the company has solved the problem.

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