LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Amp’d Mobile Inc. has begun offering a prepaid service that charges 10 cents per minute for voice calling, $1 per day for unlimited push-to-talk service, plus access to a variety of the content services that are at the heart of the mobile virtual network operator’s service.
For its prepaid service, Amp’d Mobile will charge 10 cents per text message and 25 cents per multimedia message, although fine print on the MVNO’s Web site describes picture and video messaging as “coming soon.” Full-length music downloads will be available for 99 cents, ringtones for $1.50 or $2, and games will start at $6; however, Amp’d Mobile will charge a 25 percent “content surcharge” which would, for example, bring the price of a 99 cent music download to around $1.24.
Data usage is 30 cents per megabyte, plus the content surcharge. Users will be able to recharge their prepaid accounts directly from their handsets, via Amp’d Mobile’s Web site or by calling a toll-free phone number. Users can recharge their accounts in amounts of $20, $30 and $50.
The service promises no credit checks, and users will be able to track their balances in real time.
The prepaid service joins Amp’d Mobile’s postpaid offering that the MVNO launched with late last year.
