Boost Mobile is already the U.S.’s fourth-largest cellular carrier. But with a mere 7.3 million subscribers, the former Sprint prepaid service finds itself more than a hundred million subs behind third-place provider AT&T.
And yet, Boost Mobile, now owned by EchoStar and HQ’d in Littleton, CO, wants to become America’s fourth major carrier to replace Sprint. Company executives believe a combination of aggressively switching customers from AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon through lower priced “Forever” price/data plans, higher-quality connections, bring-your-own-phone, a 30-day risk-free trial, and wider consumer reach via a growing number of retail partnerships – now totaling 5,000 U.S. outlets – will help the company bridge the gaping chasm between it and the nation’s top three U.S. carriers.
“We don’t want to just be another choice,” noted Sean Lee, Boost Mobile’s SVP of consumer product and marketing. “We want to be the best choice for all of your wireless solutions.”
Founded in Australia and New Zealand, Boost came to the U.S. in 2001 as an iDEN push-to-talk cellular provider under the Nextel banner. In 2004, Nextel merged with Sprint, which expanded Boost as a more traditional prepaid talk/text/data cell carrier and, in 2010, combined it with its Virgin Mobile prepaid acquisition. As part of the T-Mobile-Sprint merger in 2020, Boost was sold to Dish Network and then transferred to EchoStar when its Dish Network acquisition was finalized. Boost Mobile then began to build out its own independent 5G network and, in December 2022, launched its postpaid Boost Infinite service brand. Last July, Boost’s prepaid and postpaid divisions merged when its 5G network covered 80% of the U.S. population.
To ease switching, consumers can bring their own compatible phones (the Boost Mobile website enables consumers to check their phone’s IMEI number to check for compatibility) and existing phone numbers rather than needing to purchase a new Boost carrier-locked device. For upgraders, Boost offers the latest flagship phones from Apple, Samsung, and Motorola, as well as less expensive in-house Celero- and Summit-branded phones.
Currently, Boost Mobile boasts its national 5G network covers 99% of the U.S. using a patchwork of 600, 700, 1800, and 2100 MHz spectrum bands, its remaining national footprint filled out through varying 5G roaming partner agreements with AT&T and T-Mobile, with some of AT&T and T-Mobile’s coverage in 4G LTE. Boost Mobile is currently expanding its own network build-out to lessen its reliance on roaming partners.
Retailers interested in partnering with Boost Mobile can explore opportunities through the company’s “Become a Boost Retailer”.
At a recent media event, the company touted its first-place ranking overall and in specific connectivity categories including network performance, reliability, and data in New York City in the latest Audit Report from Accenture subsidiary umlaut.
“Not only are we the overall best-performing network in all metrics, we are also the most reliable and have the best-performing data network and the most reliable data network” in New York City, bragged Eben Albertyn, Boost Mobile’s EVP and CTO. “Some other carriers have been at this for 30 years, and we’ve beaten them in three.”
Boost Mobile offers an array of talk/text/data plans “unlimited” starting at $25/month up to $65/month, including four-line customizable family plans starting at $100/month. However, these “unlimited” data plans include only a limited amount of “premium” 5G data, after which Boost Mobile “reserve[s] the right,” according to a spokesperson, to reduce data to 4G LTE-like 512K speeds.
For a limited time, current and new customers in New York City will receive an additional 200GB/month with any plan paired with a Boost Mobile network-compatible device. Boost doesn’t yet offer smartwatches or tablet cell connections but plans to do so this year.
See also: Apple Ends 2024 With 27.7% Of Smartphone Market Share
