AT&T pads prepaid

AT&T Mobility revamped its prepaid play with new add-on package options for its GoPhone Pay As You Go customers.
GoPhone users can now choose a calling package of 3,000 off-peak minutes for $20. Messaging packages (which include SMS, IM and MMS) range from 200 messages for $5 to 3,000 messages for $20, and data options include 1 megabyte of data use for $5 and 5 MB for $10.
Those options can be tacked on to one of the two GoPhone Pay As You Go voice options: either 25 cents per minute any time without an access fee, or a per-minute rate of 10 cents if the user opts to pay a $1-per-day fee on days when they use the phone. However, the off-peak calling package is only available for customers who choose the daily access fee option.
Unused units from the packages roll over to a new expiration date if the customer renews the add-on package within their 30-day service period. The carrier offers similar add-on packages for its pay-by-the-month Pick Your Plan prepaid plans.
AT&T claimed in a press release that among major prepaid competitors, “only GoPhone Pay As You Go offers both voice and data feature packages.”
Most competing prepaid offers charge on a per-use basis for data and messaging access instead of offering packages. Verizon Wireless charges pay-as-you-go customers a $1 per day fee for data use, and T-Mobile USA Inc. has a similar proposition for the use of its prepaid Sidekick option with Web browsing and other data features. However, mobile virtual network operator Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. offers both messaging and data packages along with its voice options.