Amazon Prime could include phone plans for free — here’s what we know

Amazon’s reported struggles keeping people interested in Amazon Prime may pay off anyone looking to save money on their wireless coverage.

Bloomberg reports that Amazon is exploring the possibility of adding a new perk to Prime membership that would offer subscribers wireless plans for as little as $10 a month — or even for free. Even better, these plans would apparently include unlimited data, which would be an incredible value given the low — or even non-existent — cost.

The best unlimited data plans at the major wireless carriers start at $60 a month for a single line of data. Smaller wireless providers like Mint Mobile and Visible, which piggyback on the networks of the best phone carriers, cut that price to $30 per month. So $10 or less through Amazon Prime would be a substantial savings.

Boosting interest in Prime

The reason for Amazon’s potential generosity? Bloomberg says that Prime memberships are stagnating, citing Consumer Intelligence Research Partners figures that the 167 million Prime members in March 2023 was unchanged from the year ago figure.

Reportedly, a price hike for Prime memberships is to blame. In 2022, Amazon raised the price of Prime to $139/year from $119, and that may have turned off some customers. (I’m certainly one of them — after the Prime price hike, my household let its membership expire rather than pay the higher cost.)

Current Amazon Prime benefits include access to Prime Video, which is among the best streaming services. Other perks involve expedited shipping, exclusive access to sales, discounted prices on some goods and access to other services like Prime Music streaming and Prime Photos storage.

Amazon has been experimenting with other Prime perks. In May, for example, the retailer trotted out Amazon Gaming Week, which featured discounts on gaming laptops, headsets, storage and consoles over the course of a week-long event.

Amazon Prime phone plan outlook

Bloomberg’s report says that Amazon is in talks with T-Mobile, Verizon and Dish — the latter of which is trying to get a fledgling wireless service off the ground and might benefit from the extra customers Amazon Prime would throw its way. AT&T has also apparently been involved in talks with Amazon at some point, as these discussions have reportedly been going on the past six to eight weeks.

It could be some time before we find out whether discounted wireless service joins the ranks of Prime perks. Bloomberg expects talks to continue for several more months, and there’s always the possibility that the proposal may get scrapped entirely. If it does pan out, though, expect a major shift in the best cell phone plans available.  

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