In early January, BestMVNO reported that an unknown provider was headed to Walmart. Evidence at the time suggested that Consumer Cellular was the provider most likely to be moving into the store.
A newly released prepaid report from Wave7 Research has confirmed that Consumer Cellular has indeed launched at some Walmarts, but most stores lack displays for the MVNO. Wave7 Research notes that Consumer Cellular's rollout into stores is slow going. Still, if you are going to launch in Walmart, it seems you have to have store exclusive offers. Joining the ranks of Total Wireless with its bonus data offer on its $35 plan, and AT&T Prepaid with its exclusive plans and discounts via Walmart, Consumer Cellular now has a special offer only available at the big box store. For a limited time, new customers who sign up for Consumer Cellular through Walmart will receive $50 in account credits. Dennis Bournique of PrepaidCompare.net spotted the Walmart exclusive offer. Customers who sign up directly through Consumer Cellular, or through Target where it's also sold in stores, will receive just a $25 account credit. The $25 account credit offer is actually featured in several Consumer Cellular TV commercials, including this one.
Consumer Cellular's $25 & $50 Account Credit Offers Fine Print
Both the $25 and $50 account credit offers contain the same basic fine print. The offer is available to both switchers and to current customers that add a new line of service to their accounts. The $25 account credit offer expires on March 31, 2022. An end date for the $50 account credit offer has not been specified.
Credits will be applied to the customer's account via monthly bill credits. Those who get the $25 account credit will receive five monthly $5 credits. The $50 offer will give customers five $10 monthly credits. Any line claiming the bill credits will forfeit any remaining credits they have if the line becomes inactive for any reason.
To qualify for the credits, new lines of service do not have to be just with a Consumer Cellular phone plan. Customers can add a new tablet line or convert their landlines to a line on their accounts and still claim the credits. An unlimited GrandPad tablet or CC ConnectPad data tablet line costs $40/month. Customers can also grab a "home phone base" from Consumer Cellular to convert their landlines into cellular lines. Home phone base subscriptions cost $15/month.
Available Phone Plans
Consumer Cellular's phone plans start at $25/month for unlimited talk and text with 1GB of shared data. The price drops to $20/month with autopay billing enabled. It's $20/month for an unlimited talk only plan, or $15/month with autopay. A 2nd shared data line can be added to any plan for an additional $20/month. A third line is available for an extra $25/month. A summary of Consumer Cellular's monthly unlimited talk and text shared data plans for single lines follows below:
- $20 - 1GB shared data
- $25 - 3GB shared data
- $35 - 7GB shared data
- $40 - 10GB shared data
- $45 - 15GB shared data
- $55 - 50GB high-speed shared data before throttling
The prices shown all include a $5/month autopay billing discount. Subscribers that go over their plans' monthly data allotments automatically get upgraded to the next higher tiered data plan except on the $55 plan where data is throttled to 2G data speeds after 50GB gets consumed. The plans allow for mobile hotspot usage, however, you may have to contact Consumer Cellular to have it enabled for your account.
Consumer Cellular is an MVNO that uses the customer's choice of the T-Mobile or AT&T network for coverage.
Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research commented to BestMVNO:
“Consumer Cellular is now sold at Walmart.com and in a small minority of Walmart stores. This appears to be a trial effort of what could be a broader move into Walmart by Consumer Cellular, which would be a positive move for both Consumer Cellular and Walmart, while hurting the flow of traffic to Target’s mobile department, where Consumer Cellular has long been the star performer.”