It’s a pretty interesting time to be a smartphone user in the US. No, I’m not talking about the devices themselves being interesting — although, depending on your thoughts surrounding slimness, it sounds like it’s about to be a particularly interesting time. Instead, the real war for your wallet right now belongs to the carriers, as the big three titans continue to battle it out alongside — and against — their respective collections of MVNOs.
Things are all topsy-turvy in the world of carriers. Verizon’s been hit with a pretty significant decrease in its customer base, responding in turn by introducing a three-year price lock guarantee that’s supposedly designed to keep customers feeling a bit more satisfied with their plans. T-Mobile responded with its own price lock, extending its guarantee out to five years while battling a pretty extensive collection of disgruntled subscribers on its own. AT&T, meanwhile, is pushing forward with the “guarantee” it rolled out earlier this year, though that’s seemingly more based on a promise towards reliability than anything else.
Meanwhile, MVNOs are looking like a better deal by the day. Whether you’re looking for something directly tied to a carrier — like Verizon’s Visible, or T-Mobile’s Metro — or something with a little more corporate distance like Google Fi, there’s no shortage of excellent budget options out there. And with some MVNOs offering the same level of data prioritization on higher-tier plans, it really begs the question as to why you’d stick with your existing postpaid carrier in the first place.
Personally speaking, I’ve been on my family’s Verizon plan since I got my first cell phone in middle school. Our price has fluctuated over the years, and every 18 months or so, I dive in to see if we need to change or substitute plans among my family members. It’s worked well for us, but I’ve also watched as some of Verizon’s best discounts have dried up. Should our bill continue to rise — I’m not sure our current plans actually qualify for that price lock guarantee — I would think pretty seriously about jumping over to another MVNO.
So, what about you? Are you still rocking with one of the Big Three, or have you jumped to an MVNO and never looked back? I’ve heard pretty excellent things about Visible, which seems to combine the experience and speeds I’d want from Verizon with a lower, easier-to-manage monthly bill. Maybe you’ve jumped over to Boost Mobile, which has technically become the fourth largest national carrier in the US in a post-Sprint merger world. The last time we asked this question was way, way back in 2019, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the numbers swing much heavier towards those virtual operators for the very first time.
