AT&T is reportedly on the verge of significantly expanding the reach of its GoPhone prepaid brand, starting today. The carrier is said to be adding cellular data to the wireless service in both HSPA+ and LTE flavors, as well as official support for the iPhone.
This means that users will be able to activate their existing iPhone (or a new one purchased at full retail) on one of GoPhone’s 3 prepaid service plans, which start at $65 per month and include unlimited talking, unlimited texting, and 1GB of cellular data…
MacRumors reports:
“MacRumors has learned that AT&T’s GoPhone prepaid wireless brand will be undertaking a significant expansion of its services starting tomorrow, offering support for the AT&T’s fastest LTE and HSPA+ data networks for the first time and also adding official support for the iPhone.
Until now, GoPhone has allowed iPhone users to sign up for service, but without cellular data access.”
In addition to the aforementioned $65 per month plan, GoPhone also has $25 and $50 options. The $25 option includes 250 minutes of talk and unlimited texting, and the $50 option includes unlimited talk and text. Neither of these plans include data though.
Now, these may not seem like very good prices compared to the competition—for example, Straight Talk offers unlimited everything for $45 per month—but keep in mind that AT&T has the second largest LTE network in the US. As usual, you get what you pay for.
For what it’s worth, a report surfaced earlier this month claiming that AT&T would soon be launching a new ‘All in One’ prepaid plan, with more aggressive pricing. But it’s not known if that will run separately from GoPhone, or is part of the upcoming expansion.
Despite its hefty price tag, the iPhone has actually made some major inroads with US prepaid carriers in recent years. Last summer it launched on Cricket Wireless, and then Sprint’s Virgin Mobile, and it’s rumored to be on its way to Boost Mobile later this year.