| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Wireless Services |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Toledo, Ohio (Corporate headquarters) |
| Key people | Abdul Yassine, President; Yassine Yassine, Executive Vice President |
| Products | Wireless using CDMA |
| Website | pagepluscellular.com |
Page Plus Cellular is a vendor of prepaid wireless services in the United States. They are a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) using the Verizon Wireless network.
Page Plus offers traditional pay as you go plans, where subscribers pay for minutes before using them. They also offer prepaid plans which include unlimited nights and weekends, and unlimited calling. On August 7, 2009, Page Plus launched a $39.95 monthly plan that includes Unlimited Talk, Unlimited Text and 20MB of data, called the Unlimited Talk n Text Plan.
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Page Plus was established in 1993 as Page Plus Communications, selling pager services in the Toledo, Ohio area. They serviced around 10,000 customers in the region. Abdul Yassine and his brother, both immigrants from Lebanon, built the Toledo business by marketing pre-paid cellular phone service regionally.
In August 1998, the company became Page Plus Cellular, and launched in Ohio and Michigan. A nationwide launch happened two years later, in 2000. In 2001, they were ranked the fourth best MVNO by RCR Wireless News.[1]
Page Plus Cellular customers add minutes to their prepaid cell phone account by purchasing refill cards, which are available in various increments. The higher the card denomination purchased, the lower the per-minute rate applied. Previously, the rates ranged between $.06 and $.12 per minute, depending on the denomination of the refill card. However, with more minutes being added to each card, the per-minute rate will now be $.04 to $.10. All cards currently in stock at dealer locations will switch to the new lower rates on January 20, 2010. Roaming is available when outside the Page Plus Cellular home area at .29 per minute.
The refill cards will now provide the following: $25 for 400 minutes; $50 for 1,000 minutes; and $80 for 2,000 minutes which now is good for a full year. The $10 card had been previously changed in November to increase the number of minutes from 83 to 100. The minutes on all standard plan cards are good for up to 120 days and will roll over provided the account is refilled within that time, therefore low-use customers can maintain cell phone service for just $2.50 a month by refilling with $10 cards.
While a high percentage of Page Plus Cellular customers use the standard pay-as-you-go plan, the provider also offers prepaid monthly plans that bundle voice, text and data for one price. These are the $39.95 per month Unlimited Talk n Text plan (unlimited minutes, unlimited SMS, unlimited MMS, and 20MB of data transfer) and the $29.95 per month Talk n Text 1200 plan (1200 minutes, 3000 SMS/MMS, and 100MB of data transfer.
Now, Page Plus Cellular customers can now get the $55 unlimited Talk, Text/Picture plan with unlimited minutes, unlimited text messages, and 500MB of data transfer.
Page Plus is also notable for having an unofficial open device policy. Most Verizon postpaid phones and Alltel phones can be activated (with limitations). Other CDMA phones can be flashed or reprogrammed to their network including devices from Sprint, US Cellular, etc. Page Plus does have some phones that are disallowed from being activated on their system including Blackberries, prepaid Verizon /Alltel phones and the new Verizon/CDMA iPhone.
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