Closing Out 2021 | Verizon Acquisition of Tracfone and the Year Ahead
On November 23rd, Verizon announced the completion of their acquisition of Tracfone Wireless, Inc. In doing so, they’ve catapulted themselves to the top of the prepaid wireless industry. They are now the leading competitor offering value brands to customers across roughly 90,000 points of distribution—national retail, independent wireless, convenience stores, etc.
While there are some concerns surrounding the merger, Verizon has doubled down on their commitment to “offer Lifeline service–with new 5G connectivity options–through TracFone and further develop TracFone’s products, distribution channels, and core brands.” (source: Verizon.com).
While this announcement didn’t come as a big surprise to those in the industry, it does raise a lot of questions about the future of prepaid wireless under Verizon and the brands that come along with the acquisition including Straight Talk, SIMPLE Mobile, Total Wireless, and several others.
While the proverbial ink was still drying, Verizon quickly started making some changes to their plan offerings under the Straight Talk and Total Wireless. However, since the official announcement from Verizon, other news about the future of their newly-acquired brands has been relatively quiet. We expect Q1 to bring more news and possible plan changes, launches, and other product updates as soon as everyone finishes their New Year’s toasts.
Our Editorial Team is especially interested to see how the effects of a two-year pandemic (and counting) will impact the company’s retail strategy. While many are pulling out of physical retail, including Verizon earlier this year, the company is known for their innovative approaches in new sectors. We should expect an unconventional approach to expanding and enhancing their distribution in this channel. After all, they’re the new kid in Prepaid Town, they’ve got something to prove.
UPDATE: figures showing prepaid subscriber counts across the three major networks can be found here: https://www.counterpointresearch.com/verizon-tracfone-acquisition/
“While roughly 13 million of Tracfone’s customers are already on Verizon’s network and have Verizon compatible devices, the rest are currently on AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks and will need to be migrated.”
