I haven't read through all the details, or all the analyses. Safelink has been pretty well protected by the regulators: Tracfone to a lesser extent. The other brands don't seem to be specifically protected by regulators, except as the agreement to protect price structure might apply, and where the agreement to supply network alternatives where Verizon service is not available. (Again, a lot of between-the-lines wiggle room here: Will you still be able to get AT&T or T-Mo service if you don't have coverage in your home or office, even if you're in a 'coverage area'?)
No guessing how fast Verizon might move on some of this: In general, my random thoughts, based on absolutely zero concrete information, and recognizing that my musings are at least as worthless as anyone else's who is not an industry insider..:
Verizon wants the Prepaid service, and they want the customer base. (Although they want the customer base to be using Verizon, of course.).
.
Verizon -should- want the retail channel setup that Tracfone brands have relied on for successful market penetration. Verizon -should- want the different brand tiers that target different primary niches. Verizon -should- want the Tracfone Groups customer service setup, and their reasonably usable self-service customer account management (dashboards), since this is core to the Tracfone Group's profitability.
The question is how they'll go about changing details, and winnowing the number of brands. The possible permutations get really complicated, because some of the brands target specific marketing channels (SImple Mobile does really well in independent phone service stores, Straight Talk and Family Mobile are tied in with Walmart, etc.)
I expect a significant amount of brand consolidation within the two main tiers of subrands (budget Pay As You Go, and middle-of-the-road MVNOs). I'd guess that on the Pay As You Go brands, Page Plus and Net10 PayGo might be consolidated under Tracfone. If Tracfone wants to shutter some brands, it might be easier to close them to new subscriptions & let the brand continue to service existing customers, instead of trying to migrate between brands-- or they'll have to develop some formula to transition from one brand's plans to another brand's plans.
Total, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, Walmart Family Mobile, and Net10 monthly plans all have roughly similar target audiences, and plans. I expect these to be consolidated into 2-3 brands, maybe depending on pressure from Walmart (Straight Talk & Walmart Family Mobile.) My current guess is that Total and Straight Talk might be retained, and customers from Simple Mobile/Family Mobile rolled into the Straight Talk brand. (Straight Talk, being multi-carrier, would give Verizon a good chance to convert as many as possible to Verizon Service.) I think Verizon is comfortable with the price structure and profit from these brands, and they won't see major changes-- but some of the specific differences that might currently encourage a specific pick of one of those brands might be lost, or consolidated. (Some offer hotspot, some offer family plans, etc, some offer cheap data add-ons, etc.)
Some complications: The Walmart tie-in.
(What might save Net10 as a brand, at least for a while: I think Straight Talk is a Walmart Exclusive brand, which might complicate moving Simple Mobile customers there. Total Wireless is Verizon service only. If Verizon needs a different brand to transition Simple Mobile customers to, Net10 or Tracfone are the other options, and Tracfone's plan offerings don't translate that well to Simple Mobile plans. Or they might reposition Simple Mobile or Total as a multi-carrier provider, mimicking Straight Talk, to use it as the vehicle to transition customers from T-Mo to Verizon.)
