Boost Mobile targets low-data users with $100-per year wireless plan

Stepping customers up into unlimited plans is a focus of many carrier promotions, but ahead of the holidays Boost Mobile is going in the opposite direction with a new wireless plan that costs $100 for a year of service and allots 1GB of monthly high-speed data. Dish-owned Boost Mobile is dubbing it a “Carrier Crusher” plan, which also includes unlimited talk and text for what comes out to about $8.33 per month. According to Boost, it’s going after people who use less than 10GB of data per month but are paying for pricier unlimited plans. It said nearly 45 percent of Americans are on unlimited plans but 1 in 3 use less than 5 GB of data per month, citing a 2019 study from Reach Mobile. Mark Lowenstein, industry analyst and managing director of Mobile Ecosystem, said Boost’s $100 annual price offer is certainly aggressive and marks “a nice coming out party for Boost,” noting it’s been fairly quiet since Dish acquired the brand as part of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger in 2020. It also tees up competition heading into 2022.