AT&T sees in Unefon a brand that will allow it to attract those users who are looking for top-ups of less than 100 pesos. The US operator acquired Unefon and Iusacell in November 2014 and has recently launched an offer under the yellow brand that allows users to recharge from 10 pesos.
“Telephone top-ups are a trend in our country because they allow users to stay connected without committing to a rate plan, giving them greater flexibility to adjust their consumption even if they do not have access to banking services,” says Giselle Navarro, director of Prepaid AT&T .
The prepaid model –or recharges– in the mobile telephony sector gained more strength in 2020 and today maintains a positive trend in the country: as of the second quarter of this year, 82.5% of Mexicans who have a telephone line have preferred recharge before joining a rate plan. There is even a segment of users who currently have a plan looking to migrate to the prepaid model, according to data from The Ciu consulting firm so as not to be tied to a monthly payment for more than a year.
AT&T is one of the operators that, although it has not seen the number of customers it serves in the postpaid segment drop -which in the second quarter of 2022 increased by 1.9%-, it has not been able to capitalize on the migration of part of the market towards prepaid scheme. In the second quarter of the year, it only added 1.7% new clients to this segment. It currently has 20.7 million users in Mexico.
Now, the US operator is looking to expand its customer base through its Unefon brand.
What does Unefon’s 10-peso recharge plan consist of?
According to information from the company, consumers can recharge from 10 pesos and will receive 500 megabytes to browse freely in Mexico, WhatsApp for use in Mexico, as well as unlimited calls and messages around the entire country. The validity is one day.
The company indicates that if the user has a package recharge and makes an additional one of the same amount (10 pesos), the megabytes are accumulated and the last recharge will be valid .
Other recharges of less than 100 pesos
AT&T offers through Unefon recharges for 20 pesos , which includes one day of megabytes, unlimited calls and messages, plus an additional day of 500 megabytes to browse freely, unlimited calls and messages, unlimited WhatsApp social network.
The 70 pesos recharge gives four days of unlimited megabytes, calls and messages, plus an additional day of 500 megabytes to browse freely, unlimited calls and messages, unlimited WhatsApp social network.
According to the 2016-2021 mobile telecommunications service plan and rate evolution report, in 2016 Unefon did not include a number of megabytes in its 10, 20 and 30 recharges, however, now the company does add them and even indicates which are unlimited. However, the study ensures that in 2021 it observed a decrease of 86%, 71% and 57% in the days of validity of recharges of 10, 20 and 30 pesos, respectively.
