Tracfone is the largest prepaid wireless provider in the United States, and has historically offered plans on all of the major cellular providers. In late 2021, they were acquired by Verizon Wireless.
Verizon will eventually want to move all Tracfone customers to their network, and this will be a long process. But they have recently started making some moves in this direction.
Effective March 1, Tracfone Master Agents will no longer purchase SIM cards for the AT&T and T- Mobile networks.
New customers can still continue to sign up on plans on AT&T and T-Mobile, but only until June 30, 2022. As of July 1, 2022, all new activations will only be on the Verizon network.
Existing customers who are on plans on the other networks will be able to stay on those networks for now. Eventually we expect they will be required to move to Verizon, but there is no timeline yet as to when that will happen.
At least one of the Tracfone brands - Simple Mobile - has already started sending out "Welcome to Verizon" emails to their customers. The email indicates that customers will soon be given instructions on how to move to the Verizon network (from T-Mobile) if they choose to do so.
Key Mobile Internet Related Considerations:
- Tracfone has over 7 million customers, so this will likely be a lengthy process to migrate all customers from AT&T and T-Mobile plans over to the Verizon network.
- Customers who are currently on those plans will not see any immediate changes, but eventually they will be moved to Verizon.
- Verizon currently has the smallest prepaid business of any of the major networks, but this acquisition will change that.
For more information:
- Website: Tracfone
Related Content at the Mobile Internet Resource Center:
- Gear Center: Tracfone
- Gear Center: Simple Mobile
Related Updates: