Boost Mobile Streamlines Unlimited Data Plans, Promotes Reaching 5G Networks

Boost Mobile Streamlines Unlimited Data Plans, Promotes Reaching 5G Networks

Boost Mobile is pitching a new nationwide 5G network to challenge the Big 3 wireless carriers. And that means rebranding to offer different wireless plans under one roof.

Boost previously split its wireless business into a postpaid service offering a wide range of plans and Boost Infinite, a postpaid service promising customers unlimited data. These different options will now be available through the rebranded Boost Mobile service, with a streamlined array of four new unlimited data plans.

“The way customers pay is not a commodity,” said Sean Lee, Boost Mobile's vice president of products and marketing, explaining why the carriers are offering the formerly disparate services under one roof.

Boost's revamped plans start at $25 for unlimited data, contrasting the carrier with the least expensive unlimited data plans of its Big Three rivals. T-Mobile's $50 Essentials Saver plan, the cheapest, is double Boost Mobile's planned rates, while AT&T and Verizon's postpaid unlimited plans start at $51 and $65, respectively. (You can find cheaper unlimited options on AT&T and Verizon prepaid plans, but they still fall short of Boost's $25/month unlimited plan.)

Boost Mobile's $25/month unlimited plan is attractive in another way: if you sign up now with auto pay, Boost will lock in that rate for as long as you are with the carrier.

Boost also offers unlimited data plans for $50, $60, and $65 per month per line. Different plan tiers offer different benefits, such as premium data volume (i.e., the amount of data you can consume each month before you risk having your speeds limited), hotspot data, and whether you are eligible for annual device upgrades.

For example, the $60 and $65 Unlimited Premium and Infinite Access plans both include access to North America Connect, which allows for 5GB of data in addition to talk and text when traveling to Canada and Mexico. Infinite Access, like the previous Boost Infinite plans, adds device upgrades each year.

Boost was a subsidiary of Sprint, but as part of T-Mobile's acquisition of Sprint, the discount carrier had to be separated. Dish Network is looking to acquire Boost in 2020, making the service the fourth major wireless carrier. Dish merged with EchoStar last year, and the combined company that owns Boost now goes by the name EchoStar.

In the meantime, Boost has built its own national network. According to the company, this network is a cloud-native Open RAN (Radio Access Network) 5G network; Boost claims that this approach allows it to provide wireless coverage more efficiently. Boost continues to use AT&T and T-Mobile's networks to complement its coverage, and as a result, Boost claims to be able to reach 99% of the U.S. with its extended network.

As part of the rebranding, Boost Mobile also plans to launch a 30-day risk-free trial of service program.

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