Walmart will serve as the exclusive provider of Straight Talk Home Internet, which offers affordable, prepaid fixed service without a contract or credit check, making these services widely available to more users. Straight Talk Home relies on Verizon 100 Mbps 5G and 50 Mbps 4G LTE networks along with Wi-Fi 6 Dual-band for $45 per month, plus a $99 router that customers can install and connect to multiple devices. Straight Talk is part of TracFone Wireless, a subsidiary of Verizon.
Walmart continues to apply its affordable goods mission to additional categories. Recently, the retailer and Roku, a maker of smart home products, launched an exclusive partnership that brought products including security cameras, video doorbells, lighting and plugs to the big box retailer. The partnership represents another way the retailer is remaining competitive with Amazon, which offers smart home services through devices such as its Alexa voice assistant.
“Walmart is committed to making wireless products and services, which are critical to everyday life, more attainable,” said Mehrdad Akbar, VP of Wireless Services at Walmart U.S. in a statement. “Straight Talk Home Internet enables access to resources and opportunities that are otherwise out of reach without high-speed internet access, and this is right in line with our company mission to help our customers save money and live better.”
The Roku partnership is Walmart’s latest step in expanding beyond retail into becoming a service provider. Earlier in October the retailer launched the Walmart Healthcare Research Institute (WHRI) in an effort to build a more equitable healthcare industry. The company also launched a digital tool named MyHealthJourney to afford greater transparency and easier access to medical records and insurance.
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