Did you know that T-Mobile owns Mint Mobile?
Mint Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that provides access to T-Mobile’s cellular network. It has used T-Mobile’s network since its inception in 2016, but according to Antonio Villas-Boas and Eve Montie, “The major carrier finalized an acquisition of the MVNO in May 2024.”
Discussing the acquisition, Ayesha Rascoe, host of National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition and Antonios Drossos, a managing partner at Rewheel, a mobile data strategy firm, addressed whether consumers stood to benefit from the merger.
RASCOE: T-Mobile says they’ll continue to offer Mint’s cheapest plan, which costs $15 a month, but does that indicate to you that this merger may be a good thing for consumers – that they’ll still have this ability to get these really, really affordable plans for those who need them?
DROSSOS: My personal assessment is that probably T-Mobile is looking to rationalize the, you know, pricing in the market by removing a competitor that has lower prices than them.
RASCOE: Back in 2020 when T-Mobile bought Sprint, there was a promise to keep Sprint’s prices in place for three years. It’s been about three years now, so what do we know?
DROSSOS: It is important to note that these promises – actually, they are not significant, and in practice they don’t really make a difference into the market because what is important to remember is that mobile prices, both the monthly prices and, as well, the unit prices, meaning gigabytes, have been coming down. If two network operators that are merging are promising to keep prices flat, well, that’s not good enough, you know, because prices are falling anyway.
RASCOE: So that’s not actually necessarily a benefit for the consumers.
DROSSOS: And to add to that, there is the many footprints, small print, and caveats and footnotes that usually, offers comes with. And in the U.S. you have a lot.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
In a review of Mint Mobile’s service, Dallas Cox notes, “Good customer service is important in a phone carrier. Unfortunately, nearly all major companies seem to be struggling with customer service. Whether it’s extended wait times or unhelpful representatives, dealing with customer service with phone service providers can be a pain.”
After experimenting with customer service by phone and chat, Cox concluded that Mint Mobile’s customer service representatives were “knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/mint-mobile-review
