Simple Mobile has once again won Wave7 Research's quarterly independent multi-carrier prepaid dealer survey. Survey results showed it to be the number one selling prepaid brand in the second quarter of 2022. This is the 30th straight time that Simple Mobile has finished atop the survey, which also corresponds to the number of times that Wave7 Research has conducted the survey.
The most recent survey was conducted during the months of May and June of 2022. Representatives from a total of 30 independent multi-carrier prepaid dealers around the U.S. in a variety of markets were surveyed.
2Q22 Prepaid Dealer Survey Results
Note: The "number of dealers" column indicates the number of dealers selling the brand. The "1st place" column denotes the number of dealers reporting the brand as their top seller, while "2nd place" etc., means the number of dealers reporting that as their second best-selling brand.
| Provider | Number of Dealers | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | Also-Ran |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Mobile | 24 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| AT&T Prepaid | 20 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| H2O Wireless | 16 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| Net10 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| Ultra Mobile | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Verizon Prepaid | 15 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Boost Mobile | 11 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| PagePlus | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| GoSmart Mobile | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| T-Mobile Prepaid | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Cricket Wireless | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Total Wireless | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Lycamobile | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Gen Mobile | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Selectel | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tracfone | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Wave7 Research named AT&T Prepaid as another one of its survey winners and gave the provider its momentum award. AT&T Prepaid finished second in the survey for the first time and was found in 20 of the 30 stores surveyed. This was up from 14 in the 1Q22 survey. AT&T Prepaid did not even participate in the channel prior to 2019. Gen Mobile was named honorable mention for the award. The DISH-owned MVNO has been making a strong push for distribution in the dealer channel. Gen Mobile was only found in one dealer in the last survey and was not found at any dealers in the 4Q21 survey.
Lycamobile and T-Mobile Prepaid were named survey losers. Lycamobile was found in 10 dealers in the 1Q22 survey but dropped to just five in the current survey. But one dealer did name it a top-three seller.
T-Mobile Prepaid dropped down to being mentioned by just five dealers as well. This is not down considerably from the 1Q22 survey where it was mentioned by six dealers. However, the greater context is that T-Mobile Prepaid has been in a downward spiral in the channel for several years. Wave7 Research notes that in its 2Q18 survey, T-Mobile Prepaid was found in 16 of 30 dealers mentioned.
Not surprisingly, Verizon continues to dominate the multi-carrier independent dealer channel. Verizon purchased Tracfone late last year, and six Tracfone brands are carried in the channel including Simple Mobile. Verizon Prepaid is also sold in the channel and was found in 15 stores. Collectively, the 30 dealers mentioned 165 (plan?) options available for carrier activations. Of those, 79 are Verizon-owned options.
“The big story in the independent dealer channel is that Verizon has gone from worst to first via its acquisition of TracFone and its control of Simple Mobile. A counter trend is that T-Mobile has been stepping away from this channel.” – Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research