US Mobile adds new By the Gig plan options

US Mobile has made some changes to its ‘By the Gig plans’, also known as ‘Shared’ or ‘Pooled’ data plans. The MVNO that bills itself as a ‘Super Carrier’ for offering service on three network carriers, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, has added two new plans and changed how it bills for data top-ups. The new plans are:

• 5GB – $15/month
• 20GB – $35/month, plus $15 per additional 10GB

The plans join two existing options from the provider.

• 2GB – $10/month
• 10GB – $20/month

Taxes and fees are included with the plans. The plans also come with calling and texting to international numbers. Mobile hotspot usage is allowed. Customers can switch their numbers between each of the three carriers supported by US Mobile using a feature they call “Teleport.”

New customers can Teleport their first two times free, after that it’s $2 per Teleport. There is a limit of 8 Teleports allowed per billing cycle. Subscribers using Teleport should be aware that if they aren’t using eSIM they may need a new physical SIM card if they’d like to go back to their original network.

Unfortunately, top-ups have changed for the worse. Subscribers wishing to top-up their data will now have to top-up by a minimum amount of 2GB. Previously customers could top up by adding just 1GB at a time. The data top-up rate is still $2/GB, but that does equate to a minimum of $4 in charges every time you’d like to top-up. This rate change applies to customers who manually top-up and to auto top-up users. If you are an existing US Mobile customer you will be grandfathered into the old system of a 1GB top-up minimum.

US Mobile’s new By the Gig plan options cause a small competitive shift in the market. The number of providers offering 5GB of data for about the $15/month is pretty limited. Mint Mobile might be considered the market leader at this price point, however, in order to get the $15/month rate customers must prepay for a year of service in advance. Some other providers offering 5GB/month of high-speed data at about that price include MobileX ($14.88/month), Tello Mobile ($14/month), and T-Mobile Prepaid Connect ($15/month). US Mobile has a price advantage on all of them in that they are only the provider to include taxes and fees in their advertised price.