Headquarters United States Website www.att.com/GoPhone | Products Mobile telephony | |
Industry Wireless telecommunications Area served United States
Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islands Parent McCaw Cellular (1987-1994)
AT&T Inc. (1995-present) | ||
AT&T GoPhone is the brand name of prepaid mobile phone service from AT&T Mobility, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc.
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The GoPhone name and product were originally conceived and implemented by McCaw Cellular by its founder Craig McCaw and first used in commerce in 1987 by his company. It was later bought by AT&T in 1995 and used by the pre-2004 "AT&T Wireless" after Cingular's purchase of AT&T Wireless in 2004 for $41 billion. At that time, Cingular was jointly owned by SBC Communications (Southwestern Bell Corporation) of San Antonio, Texas, which owned 60 percent, and BellSouth of Atlanta, Georgia.
The original GoPhone service was discontinued and Cingular renamed its prepaid services under GoPhone. The GoPhone brand name is still in use even after "Cingular" renamed itself "AT&T Mobility".
Pick Your Plan
Pick Your Plan was a monthly plan with no credit required because it was paid directly every month with a credit card or checking account. Customers were required to sign up for automatic payments every month using their credit/debit card or check. Plans were available with the option to add messaging and data plans. The Pick Your Plan service option was discontinued and new Pick Your Plan service can no longer be activated but existing Pick Your Plan service accounts are still being supported.
Pay As You Go plan
The GoPhone Pay As You Go plan allows users to refill their airtime at their own leisure by purchasing prepaid cards, or one of several airtime packages available through their refill site. GoPhone devices can connect to the GSM/UMTS/HSPA+ and as of May 24, 2013, all compatible GoPhone devices can access LTE service as well. GoPhones have expanded messaging services that are included with the base package with no extra fees. Text messaging is unlimited to the United States, Canada, and over 100 countries while using the GoPhone service within the United States.
Voice Mail
GoPhone accounts include Basic Voicemail and Visual Voicemail for compatible smartphones. Incoming calls to unreachable GoPhone phones are automatically routed to voice mail. Unanswered incoming calls are automatically routed to voice mail as well. These calls normally do not trigger a daily fee or airtime usage.