With the ever-growing list of MVNO options, and new ones sprouting up all the time, I thought it would be good to do an overview of Boom! Mobile. Boom is a fairly new MVNO that operates using all four of the main network carriers. It refers to the networks on its site as T, S, V, and AT&T—but by color coding them, Boom doesn’t leave much room for imagination! Boom has generated a lot of hype simply from its low priced plans, which all include voice and data roaming.
The Plans
Boom! Mobile’s plans are a little different than most prepaid companies, because it offers different styles of plans that operate on different networks. Let’s take a look.
Network V
Individual plans:
- $19.99/month — No data, unlimited talk and text
- $19.99/month — 250MB data, unlimited talk and text
- $29.99/month — 2GB data, unlimited talk and text
- $34.99/month — 2GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
- $39.99/month — 5GB data, unlimited talk and text
- $44.99/month — 5GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
When it first opened, Boom plans only offered hard-capped data. It seems the company has already evolved a little, as unlimited data plans for $5 more a month are now available. Additional data can also be purchased at $10 for 1GB, $14 for 2GB, and $30 for 5GB.
Networks T and S
Individual plan:
- $49.99/month — 2GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
Family plans:
- $89.99/month – 2 lines – 4GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
- $104.99/month – 2 lines – 6GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
- $139.99/month – 3 lines – 8GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
- $179.99/month – 4 lines – 10GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
- $219.99/month – 6 lines – 15GB high speed data, unlimited talk and text
Network A
Boom’s website states that business plans will be coming soon, and those plans are set to operate on AT&T’s network.
Plan Overview
I’ll definitely give Boom kudos for the amount of plan options they have. It isn’t very often that MVNOs offer that many different plans for different networks, and on top of that, the company now has unlimited data plans so that it can appeal to both low and high data users. It’s impressive that all plans include voice and data roaming, as even the plans on Verizon’s prepaid network don’t offer that. Overall, I would say Boom! Mobile offers competitive pricing, especially for having features that a lot of prepaid companies are not currently offering.
However, it’s a little strange to me that the individual plan on network T and S is $15 more than the network V plan with the same features. Really, the only reason to use that plan would be if you were purchasing a T or S phone. Although, in that case Boom would no longer be the most cost-effective prepaid option… so I don’t really see why the company offers the plan at all. For comparison, MetroPCS (a T-Mobile MVNO) offers unlimited talk, text, and data with the first 3 GB at high speeds for $40 a month—which is still $10 cheaper than Boom’s plan, and offers more high speed data.
Phones
Boom has phones for sale on its website. Most of them are basic devices, for networks T and V. There are some smartphones in the mix, though they are mostly refurbished. This could be a benefit, as refurbished devices are typically a little cheaper than buying new.
Boom also offers BYOP, and since the company offers plans on all four of the major carrier networks, what plan you choose is going to determine what phone you can bring in. Since network V is CDMA, unlocked GSM phones cannot be activated on these normal individual plans—those devices can only be used on the more expensive individual monthly plan operating on network. You can check device compatibility on Boom’s website.]]>
