Attention Multi-Carriers : What happened to Total Wireless?

So yesterday (09/27), I logged into my portal to check something only to see that Total Wireless is no longer part of the activation. I reached out to my master dealer only to be informed that Total Wireless is no longer allowed to be activated by multi-carriers, but only by big box retailers and by Total by Verizon exclusive stores.

With this happening, I was thinking about what will happen next in the soon time to come and of course this is only my thoughts and not back by any fact so take it for what it is.

I believe that once the Simple Mobile migration is complete, Verizon (the new parent of the Tracfone family) will slowly phase the name out (Simple Mobile) and start introducing the Total brand to it’s current customer (kind of like when Cingular was bought out by AT&T).

The reason why they’re not changing the name already is because customers are comfortable with the Simple Mobile brand and won’t be to sure to “switch over” to a totally new brand especially knowing it’s going to be on a whole new network. So to make the transition as smooth as possible for the Verizon company, they start off with a SIM card switch which seems harmless and yes of course it is unless you’re phone is not unlocked or not compatible with the Verizon Wireless network.

Once the migration is complete or at least almost complete, I believe that Verizon will slowly start phasing in the name Total Wireless to their current Simple Mobile customers and in time the name will change and the brand Simple Mobile (and it’s sisters like GoSmart, Net10) will be phased out.

Some dealers think that I’m crazy to think this since Simple Mobile is such a big brand and maybe I am, but look what happened to Cingular when AT&T bought them out, Nextel when Sprint bought them out… the name will phase out.

RIght now Verizon is marketing heavily into Total by Verizon so with tons of capital going into this launch, they have no care for the other brands. Total by Verizon will be the Cricket Wireless for AT&T and Metro by T-Mobile for T-Mobile.

As for the multi-carrier dealers, just don’t put all your eggs in the Simple Mobile brand ‘cause I believe it will disappear and go all to the exclusive Total stores. Perhaps after all is said and done and their work is completed, they will once again allow multi-carrier stores to activate Total by Verizon.

But until then I believe Verizon is focusing heavily on making this happen and will do what’s in their best interest - not us, the multi-carriers - since they are putting a lot of monetary investment into this.

The names GoSmart, Net10, Simple Mobile, Tracfone will be brands of the past - even Straight Talk (Walmart). As for Page Plus, I’m not even sure how they’re still around and what they’ll do with that brand - maybe they’ll keep that brand name for the sake of it, but they’ll most likely phase it out as well into Total.

So dealers, don’t focus too much on Simple Mobile right now. Watch out for yourself because the big carriers aren’t watching out for you (look what happened to us when Cingular got bought out by AT&T - we lost our code. And look what happened to all the Cingular master dealers in the tri-state area except for a few - AT&T cut them out).

As I’m doing right now - I’m porting as much Simple Mobile, Net10 and GoSmart customers to Ultra Mobile, T-Mobile Prepaid, AT&T Prepaid, Cricket Wireless. And if the customers want the Verizon network - I’m just porting them directly to Verizon Prepaid.

I wish all the dealers much success in this industry as it’s been getting tougher but remember your customers come to you and not the big box stores because of your service and friendly atmosphere - because we treat them as people, not just another sale.

Provide service, value and go the extra mile and they will come back again and with their friends & family.