As expected, Virgin Mobile USA has followed Leap Wireless to offer Apple Inc’s iPhone on prepaid.
It said it will offer the iPhone beginning Friday, June 29. Virgin Mobile will offer iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. iPhone will be available without a contract and with no fees for activation or roaming, it said.
The iPhone 4S will cost $650 (see chart for details) and the iPhone 4 will cost $549.
Virgin Mobile’s Beyond Talk unlimited data and messaging plans for iPhone start at $35 per month for access to Sprint’s Nationwide Network, and customers can receive a $5 per-month plan discount when they register for automatic monthly payments with a credit card, debit card or PayPal account, making iPhone available for as low as $30 per month. Customers can also use their iPhone as a mobile hotspot through Virgin Mobile for an additional $15 per month.3
See the chart above for details of the plan.
Earlier Leap Wireless had become the first U.S. operator to offer the iPhone without a regular and binding contract. Leap offered the latest iPhone, the 4S, for about $500.
Leap also announced the move will cost it nearly $900 million over three years. The iPhone is estimated to cost about $650 for the 4S model.
Other carriers like AT&T and Verizon offer the iPhone for about $200. However, they tie subscribers to costly monthly plans for about 2 years in return for giving the phone at a cheaper rate.
The prepaid iPhone from Virgin and Leap are likely to appeal to subscribers who do not want to be tied to a single service or who want lower monthly bills.