Consumer Cellular has added more data to its wireless plans. Some plans have almost doubled their data allotments like the $25 3GB plan which got a data bump up to 5GB. Wave7 Research detailed the data changes in a prepaid report that the firm just sent out to its subscribers.
Consumer Cellular has also lowered pricing for its multi-line plans. Customers can now add up to two additional lines for $15/line. Previously, Consumer Cellular charged $20 for line two and line three was an additional $15.
Customers that need more than three lines will need to call Consumer Cellular to discuss their options.
Consumer Cellular Data Allotment Changes
The following Consumer Cellular plans saw their allotments get increased:
- $25 - 5GB, previously 3GB
- $35 - 10GB, previously 7GB
- $40 - 15GB, previously 10GB
- $45 - 20GB, previously 15GB
All plans include unlimited talk and text. The prices shown are with a $5/month autopay discount applied. Data from the main line is shared with all lines in the account. The plans do not include unlimited 2G data. Customers that go over their monthly data allotments will automatically be upgraded to the next available plan. Customers will remain on the upgraded plan for their next billing cycle unless they change back to their original plan.
In addition to the data allotment increases, Consumer Cellular has also lowered the price of its unlimited plan from $55/month to $50/month. The unlimited plan includes 50GB of monthly high-speed data before data speeds are reduced for the remainder of the billing cycle.
Consumer Cellular Opening Branded Stores
The plan changes aren't the only recent updates from the MVNO. An article in Fierce Wireless by Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research noted that Consumer Cellular is in the process of opening its own branded stores. The first such store opened at the end of September 2022, in Lake Sumter in a 55+ retirement community in The Villages, Florida. Consumer Cellular's target demographic is those aged 55 and up. AARP members save an additional 5% on their Consumer Cellular plans.
Wave7 Research noted in its report that Consumer Cellular will likely have at least three stores up and running in the near future, including a store in a retirement community in the Sun City area of Arizona.
Consumer Cellular regularly has TV ads airing in heavy rotation. Some of those ads feature actor Ted Danson. In March, BestMVNO reported that Consumer Cellular named Ted Danson as its celebrity spokesperson.
"The big picture here is that under fairly new management, Consumer Cellular is making a lot of changes to compete better. More data for the dollar, stores opening, sold at hundreds of Walmarts, and even the charming Ted Danson as a spokesman." -- Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research
Consumer Cellular is both a T-Mobile MVNO and an AT&T MVNO.
A couple of quick thoughts about the “new” Consumer Cellular and their advertised senior focus.
Despite the Danson ads’ emphasis on cheap, no-frills senior prices, CC’s most senior-focused plans aren’t all that cheap by MVNO standards. Their cheapest talk-only (no text or data) plan, for example, runs about $20/month after taxes and fees, about twice the price of an equivalent US Mobile plan.
It may also be worth noting that their customer service, while generally non-hostile, has become so singularly focused on security that some seniors (and non-seniors) may find their telephone contact process confusing. My very senior mother, for example, placed a 611 call on her CC phone to ask if her service was through T-Mobile or AT&T (CC uses both). Simple enough question, but she found two answering tech’s insistence on her starting her call by her providing both her last four SSN numbers and her “security code” – neither tech would acknowledge that they actually meant her PIN – that she finally gave up on the question. And moved her number, by the way, to US Mobile, with which she’s had no such difficulties with their very responsive customer service.