Oh, Yahoo. How the mighty have fallen. It seems like only yesterday you ruled the internet, handling mail, search, and news for hundreds of millions of internet users across the globe. But things have changed, and while the Yahoo brand has continued to live on, it’s currently being sold off by Verizon to Apollo Global Management. The future of Yahoo Mobile — a carrier you definitely remembered existed — wasn’t disclosed when Verizon announced the sale last month, but unfortunately for its customers, the service is shutting down in August.
With Verizon giving up the ghost on Yahoo, it only makes sense to shutter its branded MVNO offering. The company published an FAQ page for existing users (via XDA-Developers), announcing the service will turn off no later than August 31st. That said, most of its customers will have to find a new carrier before that date. Users can renew for one additional month, after which their account will be closed.
Unsurprisingly, Yahoo Mobile is pushing its customers towards Visible, another Verizon-owned carrier. Both MVNOs offer unlimited data plans priced at $40 per month, though Visible offers its first month of service for just $25. Yahoo isn’t automatically moving any of its customers, so if you want to keep you’ll number, you need to make your own arrangements with Visible or any other replacement carrier.
Yahoo Mobile has only been around since last March, so don’t feel too bad if you didn’t remember it. Unlike its other dead services (ahem, Yahoo Answers), the company’s cell network didn’t make much of a splash during its lifetime. If you were wondering what you missed, its big promotion last fall was an exclusive $50 ZTE phone that you could score for free with a trade-in. In other words, not much. Rest in peace, Yahoo Mobile. We hardly knew ye.
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