Cricket Wireless is adding more value to its flagship $60 unlimited data plan. Starting tomorrow, August 20th, new and existing Cricket Wireless customers on the plan will get a free subscription to HBO Max. The HBO Max subscription will be ad supported. It's valued at $9.99/month. Cricket Wireless sent out a press release today announcing the new plan perk.
Existing HBO Max customers who are on Cricket's $60 unlimited plan will be able to download the HBO Max app and use their Cricket Wireless credentials to take advantage of the benefit. Besides unlimited talk, text, and high-speed data, the $60 unlimited plan also includes 15GB of mobile hotspot, 100GB of cloud storage, 5G network access and full service roaming in Mexico and Canada.
“We are always looking for ways to bring our customers the best value possible. We know they are hungry for content and HBO Max offers the most cutting-edge and high-quality entertainment available,” said Tony Mokry, vice president and chief marketing officer, Cricket Wireless. “From cult classics to new HBO Max Originals, we know our customers will be smiling ear to ear when they dive in. We’re so excited to be able to bring this incredible service and library of content to our beloved customers.”
Just a few weeks ago, Cricket Wireless also partnered with Sam's Club to offer a free 1-year subscription to the store for customers who signup for Cricket's $60 unlimited plan. A partnership with the investing platform Acorns was also formed.
Over the last few years, major wireless carriers have been trying to further differentiate themselves from other providers by offering plan perks such as a free Netflix and/or Hulu subscriptions. All the major carriers offer the benefits with their plans. Typically, the more expensive the carrier plan is the more perks it comes with.
Now "streaming perk mania" is beginning to spillover onto the prepaid wireless market. In late 2019, US Mobile became the first independently owned prepaid MVNO to offer such perks. T-Mobile's Metro brand also includes a streaming media perk with its flagship $60 unlimited plan. Subscribers get a free Amazon Prime subscription. However, the perk differs from what Cricket is offering in that the free Amazon subscription with Metro is only available to new Amazon Prime members. However, existing HBO Max subscribers with Cricket will be able to take advantage of the free subscription offer. Verizon's prepaid brand, Visible, currently does not offer any streaming video media perks and either does DISH's Boost Mobile brand. However, Boost Mobile does offer many other types of perks such as free telehealth services with its most expensive plan and a partnership with DraftKings.