traight Talk offers discounts on family plans

It may seem hard to believe in this day and age, but Straight Talk Wireless did not previously offer discounts on family plans – until this week.

On Monday, the Verizon prepaid brand, which is sold online and in Walmart stores, announced new family plans with discounted rates for adding one or more additional lines.

Two-line accounts with unlimited data are now $75 per month, and four-line plans are $25 per line per month. Verizon said that’s a significant monthly savings of $80.

Previously, customers could add lines, but there was no discount. For example, for two lines on Silver Unlimited, customers would have to pay $90 before this week.

“Our customers have been asking for family plans, and our new multiline options allow more people to experience the top-quality service of our most popular unlimited plan with savings that increase as you add more lines,” said Angie Klein, president of the Verizon Value organization, in a press release. “With this launch, we’re reminding consumers why Straight Talk is and always has been the best value in wireless.”

Verizon acquired Straight Talk as part of the TracFone transaction in 2021.

The new offer is “a pretty significant savings over what was being offered before,” said Jeff Moore, principal of Wave7 Research. “It’s a positive step and it will attract more families to Straight Talk. It’s also interesting that things are getting more competitive rather than less competitive at Walmart.”

All of the information that Wave7 has gleaned indicates that Straight Talk is the most popular wireless service at Walmart and it has more display space than other brands at the retailer.

As for wireless in general, the reason Walmart has been successful in wireless is probably due in large part to the third-party reps staffing the wireless department in the majority of its stores.

Meanwhile, Best Buy is going in the opposite direction, he said. Wave7 Research has reported that the amount of staff and effort allocated to wireless activations is on the decline at Best Buy.

Wave7 also has noted that the presence of T-Mobile, while still there, has been diminishing at Best Buy. A T-Mobile spokesperson earlier this month confirmed that the “un-carrier” is still in Best Buy but did not elaborate.