Verizon has made a small change to its Walmart Family Mobile brand plans. The firm Wave7 Research noted in its latest prepaid report that the provider increased the amount of high-speed data included with its $29.88/month wireless plan. Wave7 Research reported seeing signage for the new plan allotment in some Walmart stores. It now has 10GB of 5G data up from 8GB. This is the second plan change from Walmart Family Mobile in the last six months or so. Earlier in the year the prepaid provider ended a long-standing double data promo on its $39.88/month plan, making the double data allotment permanent rather than a promo. The plan's data allotment stands at 40GB with 10GB of it available for mobile hotspot usage.
With the updated rate plans, Walmart Family Mobile's offerings are as follows with autopay billing prices in parenthesis:
- $24.88/month ($23.88) - 5GB
- $29.88/month ($28.38) - 10GB
- $39.88/month ($37.88) - 40GB + 10GB hotspot
- $49.88/month ($47.38) - unlimited + 30GB hotspot, 720p video streaming
All plans include unlimited talk and text and allow for mobile hotspot usage. The three most expensive plans include Canada and Mexico calling. For plans that have a limited amount of high-speed data, once you exceed that limit within a monthly billing cycle, you will still have access to unlimited data at 2G speeds. Walmart Family Mobile also lists the following disclosure on their website: "During periods of congestion, customers may experience reduced data speeds as compared (to) Carrier postpaid customers. Speeds may be further reduced for customers who use more than 40GB."
Additional lines can be added to any plan for $24.88/month per line.
Verizon may be looking to position the brand as its main ACP offering. From 2/6-3/27, Walmart Family Mobile ran a radio ad that aired 14k times. The ad pitched to consumers free or discounted service via the government's ACP program. Verizon is not known to have pitched free phone service with the ACP via radio ads for its other prepaid brands. There's also a page on the Walmart Family Mobile website that details the ACP discounted offerings, although other Verizon-owned brands like Straight Talk have similar webpages setup.
“This is a positive tweak for Walmart Family Mobile, taking the data with the $29.88/month plan from 8GB to 10GB. This $29.88/month plan is free for those who qualify for ACP benefits, so I doubt that this is a coincidence that the ~$30/month plan is the one being tweaked.” – Jeff Moore, Principal of Wave7 Research