Target yesterday made its foray into prepaid official, taking to its Bulls Eye View blog to announce Brightspot.
The massive retailer’s new MVNO, available starting Oct. 6, will run on T-Mobile’s network. Plans begin at $35 for unlimited talk and text and jump to $50 for added unlimited data with the first 1 GB riding on T-Mobile’s HSPA+. Earlier reports suggested T-Mobile’s LTE could be part of the plan as well.
Although its yet to confirm specific models, Target will sell phones along with the service as well as offer SIMs for people bringing compatible, unlocked devices. As an added bonus, Target Redcard holders will score an extra five percent off and Brightspot customers will earn a $25 Target gift card for every six months paid.
Target’s new prepaid will be in direct competition with Walmart’s Straight Talk. Walmart’s Tracfone-run prepaid option still one-ups Brightspot, offering unlimited talk, text and data—with no throttling until after 2.5 GB—for $45 a month, with support for AT&T’s LTE network. The high-speed data cutoff point for Straight Talk just recently came into focus following Tracfone’s long-awaited confirmation.
