Not even two years after its $80 million expansion into the state, Pocket Wireless announced today it will cease its Connecticut operations by Oct. 31.
The provider of pay-as-you-go phones already closed 43 retail stores and will close the remaining 10 in its Hartford, Springfield and New Haven markets by the end of October.
In a short release, Pocket blamed the recession, the expense of new infrastructure, and increased competition from national providers for its failure to gain enough market share to operate in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts.
Starting tomorrow, the company will no longer accept new customers. Existing customer can keep their service active until Oct. 31, and those that purchased new phones in the past 30 days have 30 days to return them.
The company first debuted in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts on Feb. 5, 2009. At the peak, its workforce grew to 400. Effective today, 100 retail employees were laid off and given two weeks’ severance pay and free phone service through the end of October 2010.Â
