Visible, the all-digital wireless carrier owned by Verizon that quietly came on the scene last year, has added a device catalog to its low-cost unlimited offering and launched beta support for certain Android devices.
Visible, which uses Verizon’s 4G LTE network but is operated independently from its parent company, offers a single line with unlimited data, text, voice, and mobile hotspot up to 5 Mbps for $40. The whole process is done digitally, through the app or online. Before today, customers had to bring their own device and there was no support for Android phones.
Now, Visible is offering customers the option to finance a new phone (iPhone models SE through XS Max and Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ are available) with no money down, 0% APR financing, free overnight shipping and no activation fees. Denver-based Visible has also launched the Android app in beta, offering a BYOD option to customers with a Samsung S9 or S9+.
“Many more” Android devices will quickly follow as they’re certified against the network, Visible CEO Miguel Quiroga told Wireless Week during an interview. The more fragmented Android device environment (compared to Apple) means it takes a little longer for Visible to finish the testing opportunities, but the company wanted to get started with the Samsung Galaxy models, Quiroga added.
He acknowledged the new options are in response to customer feedback, which is a key component for a company that with no retail stores or call centers is working to bring a new, easier experience to mobile service.
“Our premise with Visible is that the phone service experience really can be simple,” Quiroga said. “It can be simple to use, simple to understand, and it can be something that has high quality and offers great customer service.”
Visible is technically a prepaid carrier where service is paid for upfront instead of based on usage. However, Quiroga noted that prepaid is simply a payment mechanism and thinks that going forward, Visible’s experience will create a “different category” of carrier that is focused on quality of experience.
While there are no stores, Visible does have live agents who are available via digital chat to address customer questions and feedback should an issue come up.
“It’s a really big tenant of our business that the customer service has to be good and we believe the type of support we can provide digitally is the type of service that customers will need as they go forward,” Quiroga said.
Along with device sales, Visible also launched a device protection plan starting at $10 per month, which also gives customers access to AppleCare.
Quiroga wouldn’t disclose how many people have signed up for Visible’s service but said the company is “very happy” with the growth and the engagement from its membership so far. As for the types of customers Visible is attracting or going after, surprisingly it’s not just very young digital natives, according to Quiroga.
He said it’s all about ease of access to the technology. That includes people who may have been late adopters of smartphones (Quiroga used his mom as an example), but now are the heaviest texters or users of convenience apps like Uber and Lyft.
“Technology is the modifier that allows people to access certain things,” Quiroga said. “So we’re finding the customers come from everywhere, [those who] are focused on a comfortable type of digital experience. And they come from all demographics.”
