Back to the future: Straight Talk phones like the LG 200C might be dowdy, but growth in the prepaid market could eventually squeeze carrier profits. Photo: LG.
Look out, U.S. wireless carriers: Wal-Mart is teaming up with billionaire Carlos Slim's América Móvil to train its price-crushing might on cell phones.
In time for the holiday season, the mega-retailer on Wednesday announced a nationwide roll-out of the new prepaid Straight Talk service, offered through América Móvil subsidiary Tracfone Wireless. Unlike mainstream wireless plans that pair cutting-edge phones with higher monthly fees and multi-year contracts, pre-paid services like Straight Talk offer cheaper phones, lower fees and no contracts.
Wal-Mart will offer two Straight Talk options: a $30 monthly plan that comes with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 megabytes of data, and a $45 monthly plan with unlimited voice, texts and data. Straight Talk uses Verizon's (VZ) wireless network. More
Carlos Slim has app envy.
During my interview with AT&T (T) CEO Randall Stephenson at Fortune's Brainstorm TECH conference, he said he was in possession of something that was the envy of his one-time boss, TelMex's (TII) Carlos Slim Helu: an iPhone app.
Okay, it isn't just any old app for Apple's (AAPL) phone. Stephenson's tech folks helped build him a special application that tracks the companies in AT&T's "ecosystem" - partners, competitors, MORE
Stephanie N. Mehta, Executive Editor - Jul 23, 2009 1:57 PM ET
There's a Sherman Adams-style political controversy heating up in South America in which the role of the vicuna fur coat is played by a MacBook Air.
The star is Cristina Kirchner, the president of Argentina -- the second woman to hold that office (after Isabel Martinez de Peron).
The supporting role is played by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the second richest man in the world, who controls Telefonos de Mexico (TMX) and MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 25, 2008 9:50 AM ETEvery morning, discover the companies, deals and trends in tech that are moving markets and making headlines. SUBSCRIBE
Receive Fortune's newsletter on all the deals that matter, from Wall Street to Sand Hill Road. SUBSCRIBE
Covering the digital giants of Silicon Valley and beyond, an in-depth look at enterprise companies, and the startups disrupting them. Written by Michal Lev-Ram and emailed twice weekly. SUBSCRIBE
Anne Fisher answers career-related questions and offers helpful advice for business professionals. SUBSCRIBE
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America Corp... | 7.95 | -0.16 | -1.97% |
| Microsoft Corp | 31.27 | -0.17 | -0.54% |
| Ford Motor Co | 12.28 | -0.25 | -2.00% |
| General Electric Co | 19.39 | 0.17 | 0.88% |
| Citigroup Inc | 32.36 | -1.00 | -3.00% |
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 12,938.67 | -27.02 | -0.21% |
| Nasdaq | 2,933.17 | -15.40 | -0.52% |
| S&P 500 | 1,357.66 | -4.55 | -0.33% |
| Treasuries | 2.00 | -0.04 | -1.96% |
.
