Aio Wireless Launches in Metro Atlanta

Aio Wireless, the "no contract," Alpharetta-based mobile phone company that launched in May, officially entered the metro-Atlanta market this week.

The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc., is looking to capture its share of value-conscious consumers who want plans that offer unlimited talk, text and data without an annual contract.

Plans will range from $40 to $70 per month, including taxes and fees.

The company, which hosted a launch party at Opera on Wednesday, joins rivals T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, which have created their own, no contract offerings.

It's no wonder the nation's largest wireless companies have value-conscious consumers in their sights.

Atlantic-ACM, a Boston-based telecommunications consulting and research firm, projects prepaid wireless revenue will grow to $25.3 billion a year by 2015, up from the $19.3 billion tallied in 2010.

"From the customer's perspective, prepaid service and feature offerings are looking increasingly like postpaid offerings," Fedor Smith, Atlantic-ACM's president, said in a statement.

"As a result, postpaid subscribers are increasingly being drawn to prepaid services by competitive rates and the absence of long-term contracts."

Aio, headed by Jennifer Van Buskirk, is in aggressive growth mode, with 10 stores in metro Atlanta already and another 10 planned in coming weeks.

Among the Aio outlets in the city of Atlanta:

• 4166 Buford Hwy NE
• 3030 Headland Dr SW
• 816 Oak St SW

Van Buskirk spoke with Patch this week to discuss the company strategy and explain what it sees as a void Aio fills in the marketplace.

Please click on the attached video to hear portions of our interview.