Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Helium Mobile is reportedly planning to end its free Zero plan for existing customers on June 11.
- Customers who take no action will apparently be moved to the $15/month Air plan.
- After ending the plan for new customers last month, Helium told us at the time that existing Zero plan customers were “not impacted.”
Haters said the free carrier mobile plan wouldn’t be sustainable – and they were right. Honestly, great call from the haters. Helium Mobile made a splash last year with its Zero plan, which offered a limited amount of data, texts and calls at no monthly fee, whereas even cheap phone plans usually still involve paying, you know. It has stopped offering plans to new customers only last month and now the free travel seems to be ending for existing customers too.
as detailed mobile reporthelium is mobile Zero plan emailed to customers To inform them that the scheme will be closed on June 11th. The company reportedly told customers that the free plan is “not sustainable long-term” and that customers who take no action will be automatically moved to Helium’s $15/month Air plan. When we reported last month that Helium had stopped offering Zero plans to new customers, the carrier told us there would be “no impact to existing Zero plan customers.” Based on this latest email, they’re a lot.
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The Zero plan originally launched with 3GB of data, 300 texts, and 100 minutes of free calls, which was always a bold proposition in the US carrier market. The plan lost some of its original luster earlier this year when Helium began requiring customers to keep a card on file to cover taxes and fees. The carrier also eliminated its old $5 and $20 plans, while previously promising that customers could keep them as long as they remained subscribers. This context makes this latest change feel a little more ominous about what’s happening behind the scenes.
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mobile report The move also points to some Reddit reaction, including a screenshot showing a user apparently being banned from r/HeliumMobile after suggesting that a class-action lawsuit may be in the offing. Clearly, the change is going over poorly with some people who signed up for the free plan, and Helium may be in firefighting mode.
If you’re a Zero Plan customer, you have less than three weeks to act or risk being transferred to a paid plan. It was fun while the free lasted, but now Helium Mobile is ready to find out just how many Zero Plan users are interested even after the price isn’t zero.
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