This week a new Sprint reseller, Tello, is launching - and they have a unique way to choose your prepaid cellular plan.
All plans are smartphone plans - you can bring your own compatible unlocked device, or you can purchase a device from Tello. You then can chose how many minutes, texts and GBs of data you want on the plan. Each can be set to zero if you want none at all.
This create an ala carte experience so you can design a plan that suits your needs best.
As far as mobile internet access goes, the good news is that any data you select is at high speed LTE (providing you have a signal, of course) and is able to tethered or used as a personal mobile hotspot.
The downside is, the highest data allotment shown on their website is 5GB/ month (priced at $45 or $9/GB - not much better than direct with the carrier or other MVNOs), which is not going to be suitable for high bandwidth consumers. After the data is used, just like with Sprint, you do get unlimited slow speeds for the rest of the month.
For those seeking a back-up Sprint option in their arsenal, this may be a very affordable way to keep the option onboard.
For just $5/month (their monthly minimum to keep a plan active) you can configure a baseline 200mb plan. If you find you're in an area where Sprint is your best option, you can go online and reconfigure the plan to a higher level - the change takes place that same day and any unused allotments roll over into the new plan.
They also do offer a pay-as-you-go model where you just deposit some funds into your account, and then pay 2 cents per mb (or about $20/GB) as you need it.
On top of the affordable and flexible plans, the only extra fees added is taxes. There are no activation fees, overages, device fees, termination fees or anything else they charge. And of course, no contracts.
Tello is a brand new company. As with any MVNO or reseller, we advise caution - as terms and pricing are subject to change as the company enters the marketspace and discovers what works and doesn't.
Other flexible Sprint based options include Ting (also configurable, options on T-Mobile too - but more fees and higher prices), Google's Project Fi (works on both Sprint & T-Mobile at the same time, and refunds unused data at the end of the month) and Charge & Karma, both offering never expiring prepaid data on a mobile hotspot device in the $15/GB range.
And of course, the biggest downside is that the carrier this plan is on is Sprint - which is our fourth ranked carrier for RVers who travel outside of metro areas.
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