In the 1990s, mobile telephones were becoming popular among the general population. The early market leader was Iusacell, and Telmex had no presence in the market. This prompted Telmex to form a subsidiary to provide mobile communications. The subsidiary was Radio Móvil Dipsa, and it offered service under the brand Telcel. Telcel started out in a distant second place in its mobile market, but in 1995 everything changed, when the Mexican currency crisis hit many Mexicans hard. Iusacell decided to stay with wealthier customers, offering expensive plans, whereas Telcel began to offer the first prepaid mobile phone plans. Although, in effect, just as expensive as the contracts offered by Iusacell, the success of its prepaid plans ultimately provided Telcel the growth needed to become the leader in the mobile market within two years.