Virgin Mobile's ultra-affordable Beyond Talk plans now available

By on May 12, 2010 at 10:52 AM
Services May 12, 2010

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Virgin Mobile fired shots across the bow of its pre-paid competition this morning as it officially launched the Beyond Talk plans that we told you about just under a week ago. Starting at $25, the main selling point of the Beyond Talk service offerings is that they all feature unlimited text, email, data and web. The reason for the difference in price between the plans is the number of minutes you get. The $25 and $40 plans are good for 300 and 1,200 minutes respectively, while the $60 plan offers unlimited voice. For an extra $10, you can add BlackBerry data. Of course you won’t be able to use a BlackBerry on Virgin until the end of this month when it launches the Curve 8530 for $299.99, but the prospect of a pre-paid BlackBerry plan for $35 is worth waiting a few weeks for, right?

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27 Comments

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  • Gauntlet Down

    A number of places have mentioned this apparently-good deal.

    Could ONE of you guys, however, explain the “gotcha” that HAS to be there?

    • Bunifa@SprintPOS

      The Rumor Touch & Curve II are the best they have. No roaming off of the Sprint network. Virgin Mobile overseas customer support, long wait times.

      • Gauntlet Down

        Appreciate the answers – these “restrictions” don’t seem to be significant (other than the possibly-fatal no-roaming one).

        The price is dramatically lower than my current no-anything-other-than-minutes family (postpaid) plan, per phone. I could add another line for my getting-ready-for-it kid, add texting for all, data for all, yet pay maybe $15 more per month total.

        Am I missing something still?

      • Tim

        Can’t you just buy a better phone yourself?

      • Rand27

        just bought the new LG Optimus V android phone. lovin’ it
        very very smart – no need to type – using voice for youtube, facebook, gps and phone
        usb transfers, bluetooth, wifi, 2gig sd card included ( will take larger )
        $150 – no contract. Virgin mobile – best deal around

    • JR34

      The phones they offer have Virgin’s shortbus UI skinned on it, and they usually cripple bluetooth and USB filesharing capabilties.

  • JR34

    Can I use my Sprint 8530 on Virgin? It’s the exact same model with the parent network..

  • abhinav gupta

    Prepaid is a big market specially in India (it’s bigger than postpaid) & good to know that Blackberry Data will b available to Virgin’s prepaid users. Wish Virgin India does this soon s well

  • jaxstate

    I might just look into this. $25 bucks for 300 minutes and only 10 bucks for data? That’s less than what I pay for just a data plan with AT&T. I’ll just wait to see how much data that really is. Seems fishy.

    • Gauntlet Down

      Nah, that’s =Blackberry= data – plain old “data” COMES with the 25 bucks.

  • http://www.google.com/profiles/Strodtbeck.C Charles

    Also hear that some Android phones will be released shortly for these low price deals.

    • elCheapo

      where did you hear that about the Android phones?

  • FriarNurgle

    25 bucks is crazy. Will have to research this to see about their phone line up, if any other phone’s can work, and how crappy the coverage is in my area. Wow, 25 bucks. It’s inconceivable.

  • VZWHoustonRegionalManager

    More plans for the poor. Ill stick to Verizon where its a bit less ghetto.

    • NoContractPlease

      huh? hmm i guess that $300 dollar price tag is for Poor People right? while your get yours subsidized for under $100
      You know there are millions and millions of people who don’t care to be locked into a contract and just want a phone. Like myself and ya know Most of Europe, Asia and South America.
      I have a laptop for all my multitasking needs. This Prepaid for poor people is really getting on my nerves really shows your character as an asshole..

      So, I guess anyone goes to Wal-mart because they rather have a discount are poor as well right? hmm
      I’m pretty sure you have been to a Wal-mart being a Regional Manager.

      Is it so bad to buy a phone that does what you want for half the price and no contract?

      BTW! Anyone can get a post-paid contract on any phone carrier in America with bad credit. You just have to buy the phone full retail and put an extra down payment on your plan. Sounds a lot like something I have just been talking about.

      • StevenGlansburg

        Calm down dude, he’s just trolling. He thinks if he angers people enough and they see VZM manager, they will stop liking verizon
        Its like saying “Hertz car rental murders babies” people know they don’t, but if you say it enough, they will…. go to enterprise.

      • NoContractPlease

        Yeah, just had to inform dude… Seems to me like lots of people are in denial and are mad in their own sense when prepaid is getting a lot more cheaper for basic services and don’t have to deal with ETF’s…

  • Jim

    In this economy and job market, the more affordable, cheaper options for phone plans available, the better.

  • Matt

    The “catch” depends on whom you ask. On this site, the catch will be decried as their cruddy phones. VM’s phones are pretty pathetic…WHEN compared to what else is out there.

    BUT, for probably 85% of cell phone users, it’s a great deal. (Provided you live in a well covered area…rural folks need not apply). And the one thing I am surprised not to have heard yet from all these people willing to shell $200-$600 for a new phone, you could go VM pre-paid, hate it, and so what? You’re only out the $25 or $40 or whatever (plus phone cost), and you can just stop and sign with whichever contract carrier you prefer anyway. So it’s a moderate expense that I say is worth a look at.

  • Dana

    Found the catch in the terms of service:

    “$25.00 per month for unlimited domestic text messages, picture messages, instant messages (“IM”) and email messages (collectively, “Messages”), unlimited video, unlimited access to Downloads (VirginXL) and the mobile Internet (but not unlimited downloaded content), and 300 anytime minutes.”

    “Not unlimited downloaded content” means what exactly?

    Also, from http://www.virginmobileusa.com/legal/terms-of-service-no-annual-contract#specific_terms_and_restrictions

    No tethering, no P2P, no webcams, etc.

    • Laz

      I was wondering about tethering!

    • Gauntlet Down

      Thanks, truly appreciate what you’ve found – for the use that my family puts phones to (we use desktops/laptops for anything interesting) it appears this is a real win.

  • Rhaith85

    hey, question.
    do these plans have taxes etc? for instance, their old plans had taxes and fees so 49.99 grandfathered plan was like 53 and some change… are these the same?

  • pat

    well, goodbye to my 103$ a month iPhone!

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

  • Kevin

    This is definitely a great deal. I pre ordered a Rumor Touch the day it was made available. I thought about the Black Berry, but the additional features would not be worth it for me considering that it costs twice as much for the phone as well as an additional 10 bucks a month for Blackberry data. To answer a question a question according to the Virgin Mobile site it says that the prices are before taxes so the normal sales tax, and E911 as well as any other applicable taxes still apply.

    • sam

      According to the site, there are no hidden fees and its all included. The only exception is sales tax when purchasing the refill card and E911 fee in certain states.

  • Vin

    … I thought this was Virgin Mobile in Canada -.-’

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