AT&T makes GoPhone official

After announcing plans for its GoPhone prepaid offering in January and having the company’s chairman tout the product in its recent first quarter earnings announcement, AT&T Wireless officially released service and package pricing availability this week.

The GoPhone and service now can be purchased off-the-shelf at more than 10,000 retail outlets, including 7-Eleven, Target, CompUSA, Staples, Ritz Camera and AT&T Wireless stores. The GoPhone handset, a Nokia 3590, carries a suggested retail price of $89.99. Calling plans range from $49.99 on the high end down to $19.99. GoPhone runs on the carrier’s GSM/GPRS networks, and it can be used to access AT&T’s mMode mobile data services for an extra $3.99 per month.

Other GoPhone capabilities include an automatic replenishment feature that deducts a set monthly fee from a user’s bank account, credit card or debit card. The GoPhone also will automatically refresh minutes earlier than the standard monthly renewal date if users run out of minutes more quickly.

AT&T Chairman and CEO John Zeglis boasted about GoPhone during the company’s well-received first quarter earnings announcements just two weeks ago. He said the offering had performed well in a limited trial, and that the carrier was counting on it “to get profitability out of previously unprofitable market segments.”