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UK regulator to ban carriers from selling locked phones
From December 2021, all phones bought on contract in the UK will work with any network
When a mobile network sells you a phone with a costly contract, it makes sure that switching providers won't be easy. Handsets have traditionally been locked to the carrier who sold it, and you have to jump through hoops to get it unlocked. From December next year, this practice will no longer be permitted in the UK as regulator Ofcom is banning the sale of locked phones by network operators.
Dish takes over Boost Mobile, introduces new plan options
Latest: Details on shrinking payments plan, new $35 offer
Dish has officially completed the acquisition of the merged T-Mobile's mandated divestiture of its various prepaid carriers — now all under the Boost Mobile umbrella — valued at $1.4 billion. With new ownership comes immediate changes such as a modified logo and new rate plans effective tomorrow.
After some whiplash, Dish set to acquire Boost from T-Mobile
Virgin Mobile and Sprint's own prepaid customers will also move over
One of the laces left untied in the closure of the Sprint and T-Mobile merger was the condition that the combined carrier would sell prepaid entity Boost Mobile to Dish Network. Now, after a blip of a possibility that the satellite company would back out of negotiations, the two have officially locked into the divestiture deal.
Virgin Mobile is one of the smallest network carriers in the United States. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Sprint, the MVNO has been on the decline for years, and now the brand is set to cease operation as early as next month.
Amidst news of the Department of Justice's approval of its merger with Sprint, T-Mobile has announced a record second quarter with big gains in both subscribers and revenues. In its earnings call, the carrier tooted its horn about its rapid pace of capital expenditure related to 600MHz and millimeter wave spectrum and painted a couple of insights to its spectrum and MVNO sale to Dish.
Virgin Mobile has been a popular pre-paid wireless carrier in the United States for a while now, using Sprint's network as a backend. As with most carriers in the US, both iPhones and Android devices were available to customers. However, Virgin has now partnered with Apple and will only offer iPhones moving forward.
Every day we seem to be inundated with ads about who has the absolute cheapest data plan. Online, television, billboards, junk mail, even old-fashioned radio - it seems I can't go five minutes without each carrier telling me how much cheaper they are than everyone else, going so far as to hire old Verizon spokesmen and make dubious claims about reliability.
Among postpaid plans, shared data has become par for the course. Your family (or "family") gets a certain allocation of data that everyone is allowed to use. This way instead of everyone getting 2GB of 3G/4G LTE, with a few people hardly touching their allotment and others burning through theirs in a week, the heavy users can have at the otherwise unused data as well.
Perhaps you noticed that AT&T started selling the low-cost HTC Desire 610 late last month for just $0.99 on-contract and $200 without. That was apparently only the first step in HTC's attempted conquest on the mid-range device market in the US. The 610 is now on sale direct from HTC and the Desire 816 is launching on August 12th (tomorrow) on Virgin Mobile and direct from HTC.
The Galaxy S5 is a pricey phone, the cost of which the big four American carriers typically offset by pushing consumers towards two-year contracts. They generally also offer the choice to pay for the entire phone upfront, but people who want to own the phone outright and have the several hundred necessary to do so stand to benefit from shopping around for the lowest price, and lowest commitment, option available. Today both Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile have added their names to the list of providers willing to sell a Galaxy S5, doing so for $599.99 with no contract.
The LG Volt, as a low cost phone destined to be sold with no contract, is shocking more in the static electricity way than, say, a bolt of lighting. But in the moment immediately following touching a doorknob after dragging your feet around too much on the carpet, who really cares? At $179.99, the Volt should hit a number of users with enough juice to keep them going starting today on Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile.
Sprint And Virgin Mobile Announce The Low-End, Water-Resistant Kyocera Hydro Vibe For Release In May
Do you like the idea of water and ingress protection on the Galaxy S5, but don't feel like ponying up for a flagship phone? Then Kyocera hopes you'll consider its Hydro Vibe smartphone, at least if you're a potential Sprint or Virgin Mobile customer. The "ruggedized" Android phone will be launching on Sprint on May 9th and Virgin on May 27th. Sprint is talking up its "Easy Pay" payment plan, where the phone costs ten bucks a month for two years, but Virgin will sell it outright for $149.99.
Sprint Announces Six New Spark LTE Markets And Support For Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go On Spark
Sprint Announces Six New Spark LTE Markets And Support For Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go On Spark
Ever since the shutdown of Nextel, Sprint has been preparing to make use of the newly vacated spectrum for its tri-band LTE known as Spark. The carrier has announced today that Spark is launching in six more markets, bringing to total to 11. Virgin Mobile broadband customers can also get a taste of the speed starting today.
HTC Desire Comes To Virgin Mobile, Get This Affordable HTC One Look-Alike Now For $279 Off-Contract
HTC Desire Comes To Virgin Mobile, Get This Affordable HTC One Look-Alike Now For $279 Off-Contract
Competition is really heating up in the low cost, off-contract smartphone market these days. Motorola's Moto G, revealed just last week, is the meteor that could potentially change the landscape here in the US when it strikes early next year, offering specs that far exceed anything we've been conditioned to expect for $179. But that's the future. As for now, Americans looking for an affordable but capable off-contract handset can now pick up the HTC Desire (or, more specifically, the HTC Desire 601) from Virgin Mobile for 9.
Virgin Mobile has added the ZTE Supreme to its lineup of Android smartphones, a 4G LTE smartphone that will cost $299 with one of the carrier's no-contract plans starting at $35 a month. The device is priced to compete with the likes of the Nexus 4 (before its price drop) and comes equipped with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 1280 x 720 5-inch display, a 13MP rear-facing camera, and a 2,500mAh removable battery. Virgin is confident in the device's performance and ships it with Real Racing 3 preloaded.
The LG Optimus F3 is available today for 9.99 off-contract with Virgin Mobile. The phone comes with Android 4.1.2, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and a commendable 2,460mAh battery. The 4G LTE-capable handset will reportedly last long enough to sustain a sixteen hour conversation, though such battery life might require more work on your end when throwing out the dead battery excuse to avoid people.
Look, I know what you're thinking. You need Samsung to release another Galaxy product, because there's nothing yet in their device lineup that appeals to your particular set of needs. I get it. Sure, there are other brands by other manufacturers out there, but nothing feels quite so comfortable in the palm as yet another Galaxy device. So here it is, the Samsung Galaxy Ring for Virgin Mobile, a 3G-only budget-friendly handset with Android 4.1 and halfway decent specs.
Suddenly, A Wild Jelly Bean 4.1 Update For Virgin Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Reverb Appears [Update: Official]
Oh, hi there, Samsung Galaxy Reverb. Haven't seen you around the water cooler in a while. Yeah, I'm doing good too. So what's up? You've got an Android
Oh, hi there, Samsung Galaxy Reverb. Haven't seen you around the water cooler in a while. Yeah, I'm doing good too. So what's up? You've got an Android 4.1 update? Shut the front door.
Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile, And Videotron In Canada Announce Galaxy S4 Pre-Orders - Starting Today
Looks like every carrier in Canada (give or take a couple) decided to announce GS4 pre-orders at the same time. The good news, though, is that if you're
Looks like every carrier in Canada (give or take a couple) decided to announce GS4 pre-orders at the same time. The good news, though, is that if you're on Telus, Bell, Virgin, or Videotron, you're one step closer to landing yourself a shiny new phone. The device is available for pre-order on all four of the aforementioned carriers, with a shipping date of April 27th for the former three.