Amazon may be wanting to offer Prime subscribers a really huge advantage: cell phone service is free. Bloomberg reports that the company is in talks with a number of US-based carriers about providing Prime customers with cheap or even free phone service for around $10 per month. Dish Network and the three major US carriers—Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile—are said to be in talks with Amazon at the moment. However, it appears that talks with AT&T have stalled in recent weeks.
According to Bloomberg, talks have only been going on for about six to eight weeks, so it won’t be long before this potential offering goes live. However, given the high cost of mobile plans, this could be an intriguing offer for Amazon customers. Of course, doing so would necessitate further commitment on the part of Amazon, which already controls a truly absurd number of different businesses.
There are currently no details available regarding Amazon’s service, including whether it would provide the same level of service as Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T. In particular, carriers typically offer more data at 5G speeds depending on the plan that its customers select; In addition, carriers frequently offer a plethora of perks, such as Netflix from T-Mobile, Apple Music, or Disney+ on Verizon.
However, it is not difficult to imagine that a large number of customers would give up some of these perks or even less high-speed data in exchange for free mobile service. That is assuming they are okay with tying yet another aspect of their digital lives to Amazon. However, if you are already a Prime subscriber, this could be a compelling addition to Amazon’s subscription plan.
