Should you still be paying a premium for your Cellular Bill?
What are the real differences between an MNO and an MVNO?
Like many of you, I look through my monthly charges and wonder what exactly I’m paying for. One of these items you’ll undoubtedly notice is the monthly fee for your cellular provider. After spending years trying various tricks of keeping this fee at a minimum, I believe I’m finally satisfied with my solution.
This involved some investigation on why one feels they should pay a premium for a primary MNO (Mobile Network Operator/Wireless Network Operator) such as AT&T or Verizon, vs a secondary pre-paid MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) such as Mint or Visible. I was shocked at what I learned after I filtered out the marketing noise.
For a bit of background, I spent the first decade of the 2000s trying various handsets. From what I recall, my monthly bill hovered around $40 to $50 per month. These plans typically had some threshold on the number of call minutes or text messages, with appropriate overage charges for exceeding these limits. During this time, handsets evolved from candy bar phones to flip phones, to keyboard-based smartphones, and finally to all-screen smartphones.
One day, 4G came along and promised higher speeds. As a result, your carrier likely wanted an additional $10 per month on average in some sort of smartphone surcharge or premium data (as an effort to recoup their expenses for network build-out). The monthly fee at this point ranged from $50 to $60 for a basic single line.
Phone carriers started offering “unlimited” plans. These plans may or may not have included a “premium data” fee for high-speed networks but were designed to eliminate concerns about paying overages for heavy network users. Either way, you're probably paying more in the $60 to $70 range per month now.
Meanwhile, consolidation in the industry persisted. Companies such as Cingular, NEXTEL, and Sprint were either acquired or closed, leading to the current major providers: AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
At this point, the enhanced speeds of 5G became a feature of the latest unlimited plans. Most Americans change their handsets every two to three years. As these users upgraded their handsets, they were often offered 5G unlimited packages at a promotional rate. Additionally, some customers opted for carrier subsidized upgrades which involved a contractual obligation to pay a prorated fee to offset the cost of "free phone" upgrades. Family plans sometimes provide a slight discount; however, cellular bills could be high for families or individuals who chose the best unlimited data plans and the latest phones.
I usually buy my phone directly from the manufacturer and activate it with the Mobile Network Operator (MNO). I had an unlimited plan with AT&T starting at $75 per month, but over time, discounts were removed, and prices rose to nearly $110. I switched to Verizon to reduce this to $65 per month for a basic unlimited plan, though this did not include the Wi-Fi mobile hotspot that AT&T provided.
Carriers began passing costs to customers, often offering discounts for autopay and paperless billing. However, some carriers became frustrated with Mastercard/Visa fees. For instance, a 3% fee on $75 is $2.25 monthly. This led to a $10 charge if paying by credit card instead of a checking account, as seen with Verizon.
I've been noticing more ads from pre-paid MVNOs like Cricket (AT&T), Mint (T-Mobile), and Visible (Verizon). They claim to offer the same network quality with unlimited data for $25 to $30 per month. Is there a catch?
"Network priority" and throttled bandwidth after reaching a data cap are factors, but let's think about how we actually use our phones.
Consider the consumption cap, assuming the MVNO has a 50 Gigabyte monthly threshold for bandwidth throttling. My iPhone shows I've used about 55 Gigabytes on cellular data in four months, averaging 14 Gigabytes per month. Check your phone for a similar metric. I mainly use cellular data for Spotify or SiriusXM while driving. Many apps let you cache content to reduce data use. If you're on the road all day or need heavy hotspot functionality, an MVNO might not be suitable. However, casual users shouldn't have issues with MVNO data thresholds. Many of us use Wi-Fi hotspots at their workplaces or at cafes and restaurants they frequent, which do not count towards their cellular data limits and often provide better speeds.
Network priority can be defined as providing the highest possible speeds. This does not mean that if the network is busy during peak hours, you will lose connectivity entirely. It may mean that you are not prioritized for 5G UW (Ultra-Wideband) which offers the fastest 5G speeds. Additionally, if the 5G network is congested, you may be limited to 4G/LTE. It is important to understand your current situation by examining where the fastest networks have been established in your area and checking your actual speeds.
I frequently use the Ookla Speedtest app on my phone. With AT&T and Verizon, indoor coverage at my residence was inconsistent. Outdoors, I sometimes received a 5G signal, but speed tests were around 100 Mbps downstream with much slower upstream speeds. My house (in a suburban community) wasn't in a reliable 5G UW area, as carriers focus on denser population areas first. Only in true 5G UW areas did I experience the promised 400 Mbps speed.
It is important to consider international travel coverage when evaluating MNO plans, especially if your plan includes this feature.
It is important to note that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) often require a credit check for postpaid services. This means that customers are billed for services after they have been used. In contrast, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) offer prepaid services, whereby customers pay for services in advance without the need for a credit check. Many monthly subscription services also follow a prepaid model. As MNOs increasingly adopt "unlimited" plans, the advantages of postpaid services may be diminishing in contemporary terms.
I conducted research on Visible by Verizon, examined potential issues, and evaluated the feasibility of porting my iPhone's existing number. It is important for iPhone users to consider certain Apple services, such as "Find My", "iMessage", and "Stolen Device Protection," during the number porting process.
One notable concern is that Visible directs customers towards chat or community pages for customer service, as there is no phone-based support available. Considering the potentially variable quality of phone-based customer service with the Mobile Network Operator (MNO), this may or may not be a significant factor for you.
I decided to move forward with choosing the Visible premium plan, which totaled $30 month using a promo code. This includes promises of better data speeds/priority and includes the Wi-Fi mobile hotspot (which wasn’t included in my Verizon plan). I reviewed the security settings required for porting my number with my carrier. This might involve adjusting an option within your current carrier's account settings. Additionally, you will need a port out pin from your current carrier.
Note: The promo code I used was SWITCH25 for those interested, but I believe that will expire in February 2025. I believe you can find the latest discounts on Visible’s deal page. https://www.visible.com/deals/
I’ve provided a checklist that you may find useful as a guideline in considering a move with your existing phone from an MNO to a MVNO.
The app’s instructions were clear when read carefully. The only point of consideration was selecting which IMEI to use, as iPhones can have two. The app advises deleting any inactive eSIMs from previous carriers to prevent confusion during activation. However, the warning about deleting old eSIMs comes later in the process. Overall, the activation and porting process took about 5 minutes of user input and 15 minutes in total. Restarting network services, similar to a phone restart, resolved some network slowness noticed after activation, likely because the phone was initially trying to use the old provider.
The end result shows no difference in the level of service at my residence; speed tests remain around 100 Mbps downstream. There is also no change in my ability to listen to new music on Spotify while in the car. The provider indicator on my phone now displays "Visible" instead of "Verizon". Interestingly, I am now seeing reception of a 5G UW service at my residence, where previously it was limited to 5G/LTE, although the signal remains somewhat inconsistent. I have not yet had the opportunity to test in a proper 5G UW area.
Most importantly, I am receiving approximately $45 per month back into my pocket. This amounts to $540 annually. Personally, I prefer retaining this amount rather than giving it to a provider with minimal justification.