Amazon began selling SIM kits for Boost Infinite cellular service on Wednesday, greatly expanding the potential customer base for the monthly plan offered through Englewood-based Dish Network.
“Amazon is the perfect place to offer this Boost Infinite exclusive deal, making it easy for Prime members to purchase our SIM kit online, with an exclusive 20% discount, and activate their postpaid wireless service without setting foot in a store,” said Jeremy McCarty, head of Boost Infinite, in a news release.
Dish acquired Boost Mobile, a prepaid service provider, from T-Mobile, in August 2020 for $1.2 billion. The purchase was part of a larger deal that allowed T-Mobile and Sprint to merge. But Dish Wireless has lost more than a million prepaid subscribers as it rushes to build out its own state-of-the-art cellular network.
In December, Dish Wireless rolled out Boost Infinite to tap the larger and more loyal postpaid part of the market — consumers who prefer to receive a bill each month. Dish, however, remains better known for providing satellite television, not cellular services, which is why gaining access to Amazon’s Prime customer base, estimated at more than 150 million people in the U.S., is such a big deal.
The agreement with Boost Infinite also takes Amazon, which until now has focused on prepaid plans when it comes to its cellular offerings, in a new direction.
The kits retail for $25, with a 20% discount available for Prime members. A $25 credit is applied toward the first month of service. Customers receive unlimited talk, text and data for $25 a month per device, with up to five devices allowed per account.
Infinite Boost claims that the price of $25 will be “locked forever.” But that monthly price is before government taxes and fees. And unlimited data gets slowed down after 30 GB in a month per user, with another 10 GB available for $10 more a month per line.
Unlike the soft credit check performed on prospective customers who go through Boost directly, Prime members are pre-approved. A kit is mailed out and the SIM card can be dropped into most newer iPhones and Android devices and the service is set up through Boost’s app.
For people who need more human help, a “Boost Buddy” can answer questions and guide people through setup and activation.
Dish runs Boost as a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, using both the AT&T and T-Mobile networks. But Dish is actively building a new 5G network called Project Genesis, which it claims will operate more efficiently and at a lower cost than legacy networks.
The new network relies more heavily on software and less on more expensive hardware. And unlike the legacy carriers who have had to build upon multiple generations of existing technology — 3G, 4G, 4G LTE and now 5G — the Genesis Network is “greenfield.”
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