It is nowhere near uncommon for an MVNO to offer services from multiple Tier One carriers, and it seems that Consumer Cellular recently joined the list of MVNOs doing just that. According to an
article I found on
Prepaid Phone News, Consumer Cellular has added T-Mobile to their formerly AT&T-only offering, and customers who have better T-Mobile coverage in their area may receive a T-Mobile SIM when activating instead of an A&T SIM.
While I’m pretty sure that both T-Mobile and AT&T allow roaming on each other’s network, the difference is that an AT&T SIM will prioritize AT&T’s network, and a T-Mobile SIM will prioritize T-Mobile’s network. I also expect that T-Mobile and AT&T have different roaming agreements with other carriers as well, so depending on which SIM you have, your coverage might be slightly different. Consumer Cellular has no control over roaming agreements.
Dennis at Prepaid Phone News
suggested that if you’re curious if your Consumer Cellular SIM is through T-Mobile or AT&T, you can take a look at the SIM ID which will be printed on the card the SIM came with, or listed in your phone’s “About” section in settings. If the ID starts with 890141, then its AT&T. If it starts with 890126 then its a T-Mobile SIM.
Consumer Cellular’s coverage map page still defaults on AT&T’s network, so you might want to call customer service if you are interested in using T-Mobile’s network instead and they should be able to accommodate you, although it will require a new SIM.]]>
