Mint Mobile turns two, begins offering free starter kits to trial its service
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Prepaid wireless carrier Mint Mobile has spent the last two years taking a different approach to the wireless marketplace with an online-only approach. In addition to forgoing any retail presence, the company sells its wireless service in bulk.
The end result is ridiculous plans, such as $15 a month for 2GB of LTE data with unlimited talk and text. Or, for $25 a month, you can get 10GB of data and unlimited talk and text. The only catch, if you want to call it that, is that you have to pay for three months of service up front.
After those three months, to keep the same pricing, you have to prepay for a year's worth of service. When you do the math, it's incredibly cheap, but the idea of paying up front for several months of service isn't ideal for potential customers.
To help prove itself, Mint Mobile began selling SIM starter kits. In January, ZDNet talked with Mint Mobile's SVP of marketing, Aron North, about the company's unique approach. It's worth a read.
Starting today, Mint is dropping the $5 fee for a starter kit purchased through its website. That means you can try Mint Mobile's service for seven days, or up to 100MB of data, 100 minutes of talk, and 100 text messages using your own phone, for free.
Previously, the starter kits would cost $5. If you used the kit and decided Mint Mobile was right for you, the company would issue a $5 credit toward your new service. Or, if you decided Mint just isn't a good fit, you could request a refund. But let's be real, requesting a refund for $5 seems like more work than it's worth.