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Comparing the Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile Mobile Phone Service Plans
Author: Brian10 Apr
By now we have all heard of Virgin Mobile’s $49.99/month voice only plan but apparently Boost Mobile’s flat rate plan of $50.00 seems better. Of course this would depend on which you spend a lot on, voice calls or texting.
Apparently, while the Virgin Mobile plan covers calls, it does not include text messaging which if totaled could become more expensive once you monthly bill comes along.
Compared to Boost Mobile’s plan, they offer unlimited nationwide talk, text and multimedia messaging, wireless Web access and nationwide Walkie-Talkie that reaches more than 274 million people in more than 15,800 cities across the U.S. for an all-inclusive price of $50/month.
While the Virgin Mobile plan includes unlimited talk, those looking to send text messages will need to pay an additional $10 per month. Research shows that text messaging is on the rise, closing in on mobile phone calls as consumers’ communication of choice.
According to CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association), text messaging traffic grew to more than 75 billion messages per month in the United States in 2008, up from 7.2 billion per month in 2005.
In addition to saving consumers more than $200 per year, Boost Mobile’s plan, unlike Virgin Mobile’s plan, offers consumers picture messaging, text messaging, Web access and the popular Walkie-Talkie feature. Boost Mobile offers the fastest national “push-to-talk” network available in the prepaid industry. More than 90 percent of Boost iDEN customers surveyed say they use nationwide Boost Walkie-Talkie, and 70 percent of those customers use the service daily.
(Source) Press
Tags: Boost Mobile, Business, Cell Phones, cellular telecommunications industry association, consumers, flat rate plan, mobile phone service, mobile plan, multimedia messaging, phone calls, text messages, text messaging, texting, traffic, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Mobile, voice calls, Walkie Talkie, web access, wireless web
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9 Responses for "Comparing the Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile Mobile Phone Service Plans"
What about metroPCS?
If you live in a an area that metroPCS has coverage, you are much better off with their $50 Plan which included unlimited calling to the continental USA, unlimited incoming from anywhere in the world, Domestic and International Text Messaging, Domestic Picture Messaging, Mobile Instant Messaging on AIM and MSN, Unlimited Web, 411, Mapquest, MetroNavigator via GPS, Pocket Express, Loopt, Voicemail, Advanced Caller ID service, Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling. The $50 is worth every penny, after taxes it come out to be around $62
If you don’t need all that, they have plans that start at $30 and of course you should go to a store to see what current local promotions on phones and plans they currently have.
Everyone who lives in a metroPCS coverage area should wise up and sign up with them.
When all things considered, it’s clear that Virgin Mobile is the #1 carrier when it comes to prepaid. You’ve already seen the breakdown among the unlimited offers for each carrier which makes it look like Boost/Metro PCS would be the better way to go but now you must consider all other attributing factors. Lets start with the coverage. Boost uses Sprint Nextels iDEN network which doesn’t offer near the coverage you would get with Virgin Mobile which uses Sprints CDMA network. This is a huge advantage as most people are looking to see what carrier will provide them with the best signal where Virgin Mobile would be the answer here. Metro PCS is doing their best to expand but doesn’t offer near the coverage Virgin Mobile or Boost Mobile offers so thats a huge downfall. Now lets talk about handset lineup. Boost currently offers their entry level handset in Wal-Mart for $29.68 (candy bar no flip), Metro offers the R210 (candy bar no flip) for $48.88 where the Virgin Mobile TNT (color flip w/external caller id) is priced at an extremely affordable $14.98 pricepoint. Then when you’re looking for a camera, Boost offers the i776 handset in Wal-Mart for $99.88 where Virgin Mobile offers the Arc for $49.97. Then, when looking for a qwerty keyboard, there is no Boost phone available where as Virgin Mobile is now offering the X-TC (MP3, 1.3MP camera) on their website. Another huge advantage Virgin Mobile offers over any carrier is their new Pink Slip Protection plan. New customers choosing Virgin Mobiles new monthly plans $29.99, $39.99 and Totally Unlimited for $49.99 will automatically be enrolled in the Pink Slip Protection program. Once a customer has been with Virgin Mobile for at least two months on a monthly plan, and then loses his/her job and becomes eligible for state unemployment benefits within the next 12 months, Virgin Mobile will step in with Pink Slip Protection and cover the cost of the monthly plan including taxes and surcharges for up to three months. Proof of eligibility for state unemployment benefits will be required. This program proves Virgin Mobile is doing whats best for its customers and why Boost Mobile and Metro PCS cannot compare with Virgin Mobile USA.
Although boost’s plan is superior price wise, thier phones suck. What is the point of having unlimited internet when the phone you are using is sucks. Vm’s phones are fantastic compared to boost’s. Even though I have to pay more for vm it is worth it. Vm also does not have that many droped calls. I have had the unlimited plan from boost and it is not all it has hyped up to be. Vm’s Coverage, phones, and Network in general are way better than Boost’s. Vm is not going down that easily.
I totally agree. VM is the better choice. Their phones are a lot better and totally affordable. They also have a larger selection of plans besides the totally unlimited. I’m not a big caller but really use text a lot. So I’m actually on the VM “Texters Delight” plan where I get unlimited text for only $20. I just pay for the few voice minutes I use, but totally more affordable than $50 if you don’t use it all.
[...] Comparing the Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile Mobile Phone Service Plans [...]
I think it’s all about preferences and the ability to choose or to even have a choice. That being said, I currently have Boost mobile and I had Virgin Mobile in the past (before they had an unlimited plan) The reason that I have Boost mobile now is certainly for price and what is offered for the price. I don’t use the Walkie-Talkie function because I don’t know anyone else to use the Walkie with but I do use everything else, especially the web. I will say that all of the Boost Mobile phones that are offered for sale on their site, ARE horrible. They are WAY, WAY over priced and are the cheapest made phones of any carrier that I’ve EVER used. They are made more like a toy phone (they even look like toy phones) Even Trac phones that are $10 have better resolution screens, look better and seem less cheaper than a $100 Boost phone by Motorola. Which leads me to a comment and then a question. All of the phones offered by Boost Mobile and Trac phone are made by Motorola. Why are they so different and cheaper made for Boost mobile? They do not even look like they’re made by the same company.
All the buying of phones over the years is really getting exhausting and expensive. I would probably switch again if I could get a better deal AND a cheaper priced, nicer phone but I guess in modeling life, there have to be compromises made.
[...] Mobile was one of the first companies to offer a ridiculously affordable unlimited talk, text and web plans at just $70. What’s more is they have offered just [...]
Boost tends to delay texts because they use a network that wasn’t designed for it; they’re a one-trick pony whose only success was making other prepaid companies offer and lower the price of their unlimited option plans.
Boost’s coverage is horrid, and their web service is only unlimited because their phones can’t handle much more than a simple Google search. It’s there solely so they can claim they have it; same with the “Unlimited Talk” tagline. It’s not truly unlimited due to a clause that states that “unlimited use does not mean excessive use.” Meaning that if you talk more than the average customer, your service is shot
Straight talk also has unlimited plan for 45, their is net10 which has flat rate and there is also tracfone, there are a lot of prepaid deals out there and it really depends on how many minutes you need. Ever since i heard virgin is going to come out with a welfare plan, 120 minutes for only 10 dollars but will only be available to low income people, a small group and not most of their customers, they lost me.
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