RadioShack to reportedly start sales of Virgin's no-contract iPhone 5 on Friday

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
RadioShack will be one of the first Virgin Mobile resellers to carry the telecom's no-contract iPhone 5, and one report claims sales of the handset will start as soon as Friday.

Virgin


While Virgin's June 28 launch of the iPhone 5 was already announced last week, the company did not specify which retail outlets would be participating in the rollout. RadioShack is now believed to be among the first resellers, reports MacRumors, and will be selling the handset from Friday.

Along with Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, RadioShack already carries iPhone models running on Virgin's network, including the iPhone 4 and 4S. Virgin looks to set itself apart from the nation's top three mobile carriers by offering Apple's handset without a service contract.

On launch, Virgin will be carrying all three iPhone 5 versions with its "Beyond Talk" plans, which can be purchased for as little as $30 per month. The base model 16GB iPhone 5 comes in at $549.99, while the 32GB and 64GB models will sell for $649.99 and $749.99, respectively. Virgin's iPhone 5 units come at a savings of $100 compared to Apple's own pricing.

As for the telecom's Beyond Talk plan, the $35 monthly rate includes 2.5GB of 3G and 4G data and 300 anytime minutes. Data speeds are throttled once the specified allotment is reached.

Virgin also offers a $5-per-month discount if customers opt in to automatic monthly payments with a credit card, debit card, or PayPal account.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    2oh12oh1 Posts: 503member


    Or, the headline in reverse:  VIRGIN MOBIL NOTIFIES WORLD THAT RADIO SHACK STILL EXISTS.  Who knew?

  • Reply 2 of 8
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    This should quieten the "but the iPhone 5 only costs $199" crap.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member


    My son has a crappy Android/Gingerbread CDMA phone on Virgin Mobile, and he hits the 2.5GB data cap almost exactly halfway through every month.  When they say "throttled", they mean "THROTTLED"!  Don't say you weren't warned...

  • Reply 4 of 8
    curtis hannahcurtis hannah Posts: 1,834member
    2oh1 wrote: »
    Or, the headline in reverse:  VIRGIN MOBIL NOTIFIES WORLD THAT RADIO SHACK STILL EXISTS.  Who knew?
    Yes there are still people who go to radio shack to buy cords and stuff(some users like) and use for projects. Try it sometime!
    john.b wrote: »
    My son has a crappy Android/Gingerbread CDMA phone on Virgin Mobile, and he hits the 2.5GB data cap almost exactly halfway through every month.  When they say "throttled", they mean "THROTTLED"!  Don't say you weren't warned...
    Let me guess on a LTE 20 Meg's, next 100 at 5, next 50 at 1, next 25 at 300 kilobytes p.s, then the next 12 at 80 k. Next 5 at 20 k, next 1 at 5 k. Next 50 k at 1k, next 25 at 200 b. next 10 b. at a freaken 100 bits per second. If you still pass this (and your phones not screwed) you are canceled from ever again a service with your now $1000 fee.

    Is it almost as true now that it is as easy to get an iPhone as any android?
  • Reply 5 of 8
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    Pepaid is the fastest growing and the least profitable segment of telco! Good! One just has to be careful which company they choose. I'm with "sprunt" right now but I'm seriously considering Walmart's prepaid plan when the iP5s comes out! And I hate Walmart, but I hate sprint AT&T and Verizon more! :)
  • Reply 6 of 8
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member


    FYI, examination of Virgin's site reveals they're using Sprint's towers.  (And Sprint seems to co-lease as much or more than the rest already.)  And the LTE map is fairly sparse.  Salt Lake City has only WiMax 4G (No LTE) and most of Rockland County, NY (my two homes) only has 3G.



    [One would think (well I would) the article would clarify this matter for any interested in whether or not the whole value proposition is there.]



    Also, one oddity about their plans: They offer 300 min for $35 as noted, 1200 for $45 and unlimited min for $55.  However there is no option to get around the speed throttling cap from 4G to 3G after 2.5 GB of 4G service - until the next month's cycle begins.



    Very odd.  Maybe Sprint only has so much bandwidth sharing to sell.....??  'Cos not a smart market move when your marketing's geared to those who can see past the upfront nature of the subsidized phone price and calculate TOC for buying your own....  ...i.e., those more likely to use lots of 4G data.



    But since most won't have much 4G in the first place, at least no throttling....  ...if you can call that a "win..."



    [They also have some kind of data only plans - up to 5GB - I guess it's for tablets?  And that tops out at 5GB - with a different kind of cap for 4G.  Anyway, there you go.....





     

  • Reply 7 of 8
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    hentaiboy wrote: »
    This should quieten the "but the iPhone 5 only costs $199" crap.

    You say that as though it's

    1. endemic
    2. wrong
  • Reply 8 of 8
    vintagelookservvintagelookserv Posts: 2member


    This should quieten the "but the iPhone 5 only costs $199" crap.

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