Samsung officially launched the Galaxy S5 at MWC last month, with tweaked software and slightly improved hardware specifications. The new smartphone will launch in 150 countries, including the US, on April 11th. Unfortunately, Samsung did not disclose the exact pricing and carriers that will offer the device at launch. Naturally, the big US carriers will all get the latest flagship at some point this year, but beyond that it is hard to say who will pick it up and who will pass. With that said, at least two MVNOs are confirmed to be offering up the Galaxy S5 later this year.
Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) that run pre-paid cell phone plans without contracts that run hardware on Sprint's cellular network. The two carriers announced on their respective Facebook pages that the Galaxy S5 is officially coming to their network in the second quarter of this year. Both companies are remaining silent on the pricing of the smartphone though, with a Virgin Mobile representative stating that the company did not have pricing information yet.
Users can expect to pay nearly full price for the Galaxy S5 as the pre-paid carriers do not subsidize the price over a multi-year contract. I would expect the phone to go for around $800, however. While it may seem counter-intuitive to pay upwards of $800 out of pocket only to run it on a cheap MVNO, there are still cost savings to be realized so long as you are not upgrading every year. More options are always nice, and seeing a flagship smartphone coming to MVNOs so soon after launch is a welcome change. Here's hoping more MVNOs jump on board, especially those using alternative networks for pre-paid customers living in areas with poor Sprint coverage.
That`s awesome but…when I
That`s awesome but…when I had Virgin all it had was 3G and it was more like dial-up modem speeds.
If they even had decent 3G speeds I`d be interested.
Another thing to be wary
Another thing to be wary of…when on an MVNO service , you DO NOT get roaming onto nearby towers of a partner , say Verizon for example if your signal is bad.
Same is true for GSM MVNO`s…I have one now that uses ONLY ATT towers and the service is horrible.
You DO NOT in my experience get the same quality of service as the branded services. Branded services automatically roam onto nearby compatible towers.
This is backed up by a Google search I did on the subject.
What is Sprint doing with the
What is Sprint doing with the MVNO’s — driving them out our business?
http://myfox8.com/2014/03/05/sprint-drops-prepaid-wireless-carrier-affects-customers/