Virgin Mobile USA announced Thursday, confirming the anticipated rumors, that it will start the sale of iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 on a pay-as-you-go basis starting on June 29.
The prepaid carrier, owned by Sprint Nextel Corporation, will become the second U.S. carrier after Cricket to offer Apple’s iPhone without contracts.
Virgin Mobile’s deals for the prepaid iPhone offer service working on Sprint’s 3G CDMA network. However, it should be noted that Apple’s website says its unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.
The announcement also revealed the pricing information. Virgin Mobile will offer the 8GB iPhone 4 for $549 and the 16GB iPhone 4S for $649, which is the same price as Apple’s unlocked version of iPhone.
This price of the device is about $150 higher than what Cricket, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, plans to offer, which is $399.99 for the 8GB iPhone 4 and $499.99 for a 16GB iPhone 4S. Cricket announced last week that they will sell prepaid version of iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S starting on June 22.
However, Virgin Mobile tries to off set the $150 difference with low monthly rates.
Cricket offers a $55 monthly fee, which includes unlimited talk, text, and data – but the data will be throttled at 2.3 GB.
Virgin, on the contrary, will start their monthly plans from as low as $30 per month, with 300 minutes of talk, unlimited texts, and unlimited data – Virgin’s data will be throttled after 2.5 GB. This deal will include a $5 discount which requires users to register for automatic monthly payments.
The customers can also choose the $40 per month plan with 1200 minutes talk time, or the $50 per month with unlimited voice.
As this month marks the company’s tenth birthday, the relatively cheaper deals are described as gifts to fans of Virgin Mobile USA for their loyalty, according to Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group.