Cricket Wireless may have scored a coup this week by being the first to offer a prepaid iPhone in the U.S., but their party may get crashed. A new report claims Boost Mobile will also get the handset in early September.
Both Cricket Wireless and Boost Mobile take advantage of Sprint's CDMA network, as does Virgin Mobile, a subsidiary of the third largest U.S. carrier.
At least one critic of the Boost Mobile rumor believes that Apple may be taking the plunge into prepaid because the handset is finally starting to cool off.
Comparing the iPhone to Motorola's once white-hot Razr, Cnet claims the shift to prepaid may eventually take a bite out of Apple's "street cred," given that these carriers are frequently saddled with generally slower 3G data speeds.
iPhones for all
With a new iPhone expected in October, the move could instead breathe new life into the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, which are being offered by Cricket for $399.99 and $499.99 respectively beginning on June 22.
Like Cricket, Boost Mobile offers a flat monthly unlimited plan for voice, text and data, with a 2.5GB cap on the latter, after which data speeds are throttled downward until the next billing cycle.
Boost's plans start at $50, but the carrier offers $5 discounts for on-time payments.
And, Cricket already announced a flat $55 per month unlimited plan for the iPhone.
Apple executives have been clear they don't want the iPhone to be strictly for the wealthy, although it would seem the company plans to keep a premium on newer models for the first six months or so.
