Boost Mobile

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Boost Mobile
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryWireless telecommunications
FoundedJune 23, 2001; 20 years ago (2001-06-23)
FounderPeter Adderton
Headquarters
Irvine, California
,
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
John Swieringa (President)
ProductsSmart phones, wireless service
ParentDish Wireless
Websitewww.boostmobile.com

Boost Mobile is a wireless telecommunications brand used by two independent companies in Australia and the United States. Boost Mobile was originally founded in 2000 by Peter Adderton in Australia.

In Australia, the brand is owned by Boost Tel PTY Limited using the full Telstra 4G mobile network. In the United States, it is operated by Dish Wireless LLC, a Dish Network subsidiary. Boost Mobile uses T-Mobile's network (formerly Sprint) to provide wireless service to its consumers in the United States.

Australia and New Zealand[]

Boost Tel PTY Limited
TypePrivate
IndustryWireless telecommunications
FoundedAugust 1, 2000; 21 years ago (2000-08-01)
FounderPeter Adderton
Headquarters
Sydney, New South Wales
,
Australia
Area served
Australia
Websitewww.boost.com.au

Peter Adderton founded Boost Mobile in Australia in 2000.[1] Optus began licensing the Boost Mobile brand that same year.[2] Boost Mobile SIMs (or plan 'Starter Kits'), are sold nationwide at over 9000 retail chain locations and independent stores,[3] and select telecom stores can validate a customer's ID to sign up for a plan.[4]

Boost Mobile in New Zealand was a subsidiary of Telecom New Zealand. The Boost Mobile brand was discontinued in New Zealand as of November 2007.

In 2012, Optus ended its business relationship with Boost.[2][5] In October, Boost announced a deal to resell access to the Telstra network.[5] After 20 January 2013, all existing Boost customers were converted to Optus customers and continued to receive services on the Optus network.[6] On March 7, Boost Tel PTY Limited began to offer products and services under the Boost Pre-paid Mobile brand as an MVNO hosted on the Telstra Next G network.[7] It is the only Telstra MVNO with access to the full Telstra 4G coverage across regional/rural Australia,[8] the largest network by land area and population coverage in the country, however its users are limited to 100Mbps as opposed to the full 300Mbps[9] speed capacity of the Telstra 4GX network.[10] Boost also provides refurbished devices through Alegre, which are sold online[11] and at Coles.[4] The following plans were previously offered:

  • UNLTD: prior to 12 July 2016.
  • UNLTD Plus: from 12 July 2016 to 31 October 2017.
  • Boost Anytime Plus: from 31 October 2017 to 31 August 2020.
  • Boost Anytime Ultra: 1 September 2020 to 1 February 2021.[4][12]

From 2 February 2021, Boost transitioned to a simplified set of 'Boost Mobile Prepaid' plans offered to new customers, phasing out the former 'UNLTD', 'UNLTD PLUS', 'ANYTIME PLUS' and 'ANYTIME ULTRA' plans in favour of a new pricing scheme, altered inclusions and a new app, which requires a 'Boost ID' account. Boost is gradually migrating existing users to the new plans automatically.[13]

Marketing[]

Boost has consistently marketed itself through sponsorship and promotion of sporting events, and lifestyle-oriented marketing primarily through social media. The company has continued to target its brand and products at younger demographics; "Since Boost Mobile began in August 2000, we’ve been focussed on keeping Aussie youth connected."[14]

In 2018, Boost Mobile formed a partnership with the American-based Stadium Super Trucks to grow the series' presence in Australia.[15] The following year, after the series and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport reached a three-year commercial rights agreement, the series was branded the Boost Mobile Super Trucks for Australian races.[16][17]

In 2019, Boost Mobile is the naming-rights sponsor of Garry Rogers Motorsport in the Australian Supercars Championship.[18] During the 2020 Australian Supercars Championship, Boost Mobile sponsored James Courtney in a Tickford Racing Mustang and Brodie Kostecki in a Erebus Motorsport Commodore ZB.[citation needed]

Marketing criticism[]

In June 2010, Boost Mobile launched a viral marketing campaign that purported to identify text messaging disorders in order to bring attention to Boost Mobile's offer of 100 texts for one dollar. Australian television programme Media Watch criticized both the campaign itself and certain Australian media outlets that had failed to uncover the underlying marketing campaign, reporting the disorders as straight news.[19] The Age was one of the few publications to recognise that the campaign was a "ruse ... to get the company's name mentioned in the media."[20] As part of the campaign Boost Mobile cited an academic paper co-authored by Dr. Shari Walsh of the Queensland University of Technology. However, Dr. Walsh stated that her paper did not identify any texting disorders and that Boost Mobile was not accurately representing her research.[21]

United States[]

History[]

This independent retailer located in Manhattan offers products and services from several Sprint-owned prepaid brands, including Boost Mobile.

After founding Boost Mobile in Australia and New Zealand in 2000, Peter Adderton, Craig Cooper, and Kirt McMaster brought the Boost Mobile brand to the United States in 2001 as a joint venture with Nextel Communications. Using Nextel's iDEN network, Boost Mobile offered an unlimited push-to-talk service, marketed as only costing a dollar a day, at a time when cellphone plans offering unlimited talk were still rare. The service was initially exclusive to markets in areas of California and Nevada and was marketed towards urban minorities, often using urban slang in advertisements. Eventually, Nextel became the sole owner of Boost's United States operations in 2003. Nextel began to expand the brand elsewhere in the United States in late 2004 after its acquisition by Sprint Corporation which was announced on December 15, 2004.[citation needed]

After the approval of the merger in July, 2005, Sprint Corporation acquired Nextel Communications, leaving Boost Mobile as a subsidiary of the merged company, Sprint Nextel Corporation. Boost Mobile still continued to use the previous Nextel iDEN infrastructure for its service, but in 2006, began to offer a new Unlimited by Boost Mobile service in select markets using Sprint's CDMA network, offering unlimited talk, text, and internet. While the plans resulted in significant growth for Boost Mobile, Boost did not begin shifting to CDMA entirely.[22]

To compete with unlimited offerings from competitors in the wireless industry, Boost Mobile announced on January 15, 2009, that it would launch a Monthly Unlimited Plan.[23] The plan was accompanied by re-focusing the brand towards a broader demographic than before. The new unlimited plan resulted in a net gain of more than 674,000 customers in about three months.[24] Despite this lift, Nextel overall suffered a gross subscriber loss of 1.25 million contract subscriptions. The unexpected surge in popularity for the service caused significant strain on the Nextel iDEN network—as many customers reported long and sometimes week-long delays in receiving text messages. A Boost Mobile spokesman said that they did not anticipate the level of popularity for the new service and that efforts to improve the network had been implemented to help mitigate the problem.[25]

At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, Boost Mobile announced it would begin to offer a new unlimited plan using Sprint's CDMA network.[26] Sprint would also acquire fellow prepaid wireless provider Virgin Mobile USA in 2010—both Boost and Virgin Mobile would be re-organized into a new group within Sprint, encompassing the two brands and other no-contract phone services offered by the company.[27]

Boost Mobile's parent company decommissioned the iDEN network on June 30, 2013; most iDEN customers have been migrated to the Sprint CDMA network.

In January 2020, Sprint discontinued the Virgin Mobile USA brand and transferred its customers to Boost Mobile.[28]

On April 1, 2020, Sprint merged with T-Mobile, which also announced plans to sell Boost Mobile to Dish Network.[29] The sale was completed on July 1. All new Boost Mobile customers will use the T-Mobile network, with the remaining Sprint customers to be moved to the T-Mobile network over time.[30]

On July 19th 2021, Dish Wireless announced it was purchasing 5 billion of wholesale wireless over the next 10 years from AT&T. In exchange, Dish will share some of its 5G spectrum with AT&T.[31]

Released phones[]

In June 2010, Boost Mobile launched the Motorola i1 smartphone, Boost's first iDEN-based push-to-talk Android phone,[32] and in April 2011, they announced the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, the company's first CDMA-based Android offering.[33]

In July 2012, Boost Mobile released the BlackBerry Curve 9310,[34] and in March 2013, they released the HTC One SV and the ZTE-made Boost Force smartphone, the company's first device using Sprint's 4G LTE network.[35] In June that year, Boost Mobile released the LG Optimus F7, the company's first device with a removable Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) for LTE network authentication/access, a new form of Subscriber identity module (SIM card).[36]

In December 2014, Boost Mobile released the Lumia 635, its first smartphone using Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system,[37] and in July 2015, they launched the NETGEAR Fuse along with no-contract Wi-Fi Hotspot plans, its first Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot device.[38]

Marketing[]

The Boost Mobile-sponsored NASCAR stock car of Travis Pastrana in 2012

The Boost Mobile brand was initially marketed to the teen and young adult demographics, heavily focused on action sports, lifestyle and urban music. Boost Mobile's past American advertising campaigns featured Fat Joe, Master Shake, Eve, Travis Barker, Kanye West, Travis Pastrana, Ludacris, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Nick Cannon, and The Game and used the slang slogan "Where you at?"[39] In late 2007, a Boost Mobile commercial with Young Jeezy, Jermaine Dupri, and Mickey Avalon was released. The "Where you at?" slogan referenced the walkie-talkie feature on all Boost Mobile phones and later evolved to highlight a social GPS application that was available on selected Boost Mobile phones.[40] Boost have also used Indy Car driver Danica Patrick in a commercial. A 2005 episode of Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force titled "Boost Mobile" was an early example of native advertising within a regular television series.

Boost Mobile has also produced some regional campaigns, including providing live paper shredders at bus stops in Chicago and Boston, where several times an hour sample contracts from competing wireless service providers would be shredded into confetti.[41]

On January 20, 2010, Boost Mobile's then-parent company Sprint Nextel managed to secure some of the 1985 Chicago Bears players (including Jim McMahon, Willie Gault, and Mike Singletary) to re-create the team's famous "Super Bowl Shuffle" rap song and music video as "The Boost Mobile Shuffle" during the first quarter of the Super Bowl XLIV.[42]

Boost Mobile debuted a television campaign in June 2012 to promote the HTC EVO Design 4G, its first smartphone using Sprint's 4G WiMAX network. The ads feature comedian Faizon Love as the "4Genie", a genie who magically appears where cellphone users seek low-cost 4G.[43]

On July 1, 2021, the first day on which NCAA student-athletes were allowed to receive compensation for use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL), Boost announced that it had signed Haley and Hanna Cavinder, twin basketball players at Fresno State with a social media following in the millions, as spokespersons.[44]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Stewart, Ashley (12 June 2018). "T-Mobile/Sprint merger would be 'catastrophic,' says Boost Mobile founder". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Broughall, Nick (24 October 2012). "Optus ends, Telstra begins Boost Mobile partnership". TechRadar. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Find a Boost Retailer - Boost Mobile". Boost Mobile Australia. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Frequently Asked Questions - Boost Mobile". Boost Mobile Australia. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b McDonald, Stephanie (24 October 2012). "Boost Mobile to resell Telstra's Next G network". Computerworld. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Boost Mobile announcement clarification" (Press release). Telstra. 26 October 2012.
  7. ^ "Telstra and Boost Mobile enter retail alliance". Telstra. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  8. ^ Wiwatowska, Anula (16 June 2021). "Telstra vs. Boost vs. Belong vs. ALDI Mobile coverage and others". WhistleOut. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Telstra - What is mobile broadband? - Support". www.telstra.com.au. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Telstra vs Boost Mobile | Compare Plans & Prices". Canstar Blue. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Boost Mobile Refurb Store I Powered By Alegre". Boost Refurbished Shop - Supplied By Alegre. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Important Information - Boost Mobile". Boost Mobile Australia. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  13. ^ "The New Boost Mobile Prepaid Plan - Boost Mobile". Boost Mobile Australia. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Prepaid Plans & SIM Only Mobile Plans - Boost Mobile". Boost Mobile Australia. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Rights deal signed for Super Trucks in Australia". Speedcafe. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  16. ^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (20 August 2019). "Australian ban on Stadium Super Trucks lifted". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  17. ^ O'Brien, Connor (27 August 2019). "Early return for Stadium Super Trucks". Supercars Championship. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  18. ^ "GRM showcases Boost Mobile Racing Commodores". Speedcafe.com. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  19. ^ "Diagnosis: Gullible". Media Watch. 12 July 2010. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  20. ^ "Teenagers text the love". The Age. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019.
  21. ^ Walsh, Dr. Shari (2 July 2010). "Dr Shari Walsh replies to Media Watch" (PDF). Media Watch. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 March 2017.
  22. ^ "Tech Biz: Behind the Sprint/Nextel merger - Dec. 15, 2004". money.cnn.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  23. ^ "As More Wireless Consumers Are Adopting Flat-Rate Prepaid Plans, the Value of the New Boost Mobile Monthly Unlimited Plan Trumps MetroPCS and Cricket" (Press release). Boost Mobile. Marketwired. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  24. ^ Silver, Sara (5 May 2009). "Sprint Posts Larger Loss". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  25. ^ Ankeny, Jason (4 May 2009). "Boost Mobile to release text delay fix this week". FierceMobileContent. Archived from the original on 14 August 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  26. ^ Dolcourt, Jessica. "Boost Mobile offering monthly unlimited plans for CDMA phones". CNET. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  27. ^ "Sprint Nextel prepares a push to win pay-as-you-go customers". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  28. ^ Hollister, Sean (8 January 2020). "Sprint is killing off Virgin Mobile USA, and Virgin is getting the rights back". The Verge.
  29. ^ Costelloe, Kevin (1 April 2020). "Boost Mobile Sale to Dish Seen Soon, T-Mobile Says". Orange County Business Journal.
  30. ^ Farrell, Mike (18 June 2020). "Dish Says Boost Mobile Deal Will Close July 1". Multichannel News.
  31. ^ "Dish will pay AT&T $5 billion to serve its mobile customers".
  32. ^ Gray, Nick (10 June 2010). "Boost Mobile's Motorola i1 launching on June 20th". androidandme.com. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  33. ^ "Why Settle When You Can "Prevail" with the new Android-powered Phone from Boost Mobile and Samsung". www.businesswire.com. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  34. ^ "Boost Mobile takes BlackBerry Curve 9310 to the US, spices it up with $30 unlimited BBM, voice and text plan". Engadget. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  35. ^ "Sprint's first Boost LTE phones unveiled: HTC One SV and ZTE Force". Android Authority. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  36. ^ "Create, Share and Inspire with LG Optimus F7 Smartphone from Boost Mobile". www.businesswire.com. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  37. ^ "Nokia Lumia 635 will soon launch at Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile". News.Wirefly. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  38. ^ "Boost Mobile Launches First Wi-Fi Hotspot Plans with Availability of the NETGEAR Fuse". www.businesswire.com. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  39. ^ "Boost Brings Back 'Where You At?'". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  40. ^ "Boost mobile walkie talkie". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  41. ^ Nudd, Tim (2 April 2009). "AdFreak: Boost Mobile has bus-stop paper shredders". Adweek. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  42. ^ Vranica, Suzanne (15 January 2010). ""Super Bowl Shuffle" Reprised by 1985 Chicago Bears for Boost Mobile Ad". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 22 March 2010.
  43. ^ "Boost Mobile ad pimps WiMax 4G". CNET. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  44. ^ Murphy, Dan (1 July 2021). "Let's make a deal: NCAA athletes cashing in on name, image and likeness". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 July 2021.

External links[]

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