Unified Signal Launches MyTime Wireless

Late last month, a new MVNO entered the market. Launched by Unified Signal, the new company offers services through several of the Big Four companies and has more plan options than you can shake a stick at. It’s pretty insane. Being as they are extremely new, I haven’t tried them yet (obviously) but we’ll go over some of the major details in case you’re feeling brave and wanting to switch.

Plan Choices

MyTime claims in giant bold letters on its header: “Finally, all four networks in one place” and while the first three carriers are color coded (Verizon is CDMA-Red, Sprint is CDMA-Yellow and AT&T is GSM-Blue), the fourth simply is labeled “Infinium GSM” which isn’t something I’ve ever seen used for T-Mobile’s network. I did confirm with the customer service that the Infinium plans do use T-Mobile’s network, so don’t let it throw you for a loop. As far as plans go, the options are extensive and you can probably find something that works with all of the options. The prices are nothing super exciting but some of the cheaper plans aren’t too terrible either. The Verizon network (CDMA- Red)  has a total 16 plans, which range from $25 – $200. The Sprint network (CDMA – Yellow) has nine plans which range from $25 – $200. The AT&T network (CDMA – Blue) has six plans ranging from $35 – $65 and the T-Mobile network (Infinium GSM) has nine plans ranging from $25 – $200. All plans include the basic features like caller ID, call waiting, etc. Some of the plans are pretty good (like unlimited talk, text and data on AT&T for $65) while others are pretty terrible. It’s hit and miss. Check the plans out for yourself by clicking here, and then selecting “I’m a new customer.”

Device Options

MyTime, surprisingly, both sells phones and allows customers to activate their own devices. As far as selling devices goes, MyTime offers different phones for each of the networks, but the only company that actually has decent prices (and the fewest choices) is the Verizon network. All of the rest are a little on the pricey side. As far as BYOD goes, MyTime allows activation of eligible Verizon, AT&T and Sprint phones, and it is by far the most cost-effective way to go, looking at the prices. For Verizion, the device must simply be inactive and paid for. With AT&T, it must be unlocked and able to use the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies. And, of course, for Sprint you have a dozen loops to jump through, but it’s theoretically possible to activate a device provided it passes Sprint’s test. T-Mobile phones cannot be activated through MyTime.

International calling

MyTime claims to offer international calling, but basically it sounds an awful lot like it actually has just partnered with another company to offer an international calling card service. Regardless, customers can make international calls at an additional per-minute rate which varies by country. There are no included international calling benefits in any of the plans, as far as I saw.

Customer Service

I spoke with customer service for a little time and while they are obviously located overseas, the customer associates I spoke with all spoke good English, were polite and extremely helpful. If you’re really big into American customer service, then this probably isn’t going to be for you. Normally I do terribly with accents (especially Indian accents for some reason) but I had no trouble understanding the rep I spoke with and he was very polite. This doesn’t mean the customer service is awesome, just that it’s a good sign.

Fine Print

There is always some fine print with every company and while I haven’t looked too deeply into MyTime, there were a couple of things that I wanted to note:

• Overages are possible – Yeah, you totally read that right. In the FAQ section, it says “If you run out of minutes on your last call, you will be billed for that amount of time. This amount will create a balance due, which will then be deducted from your cash balance when you purchase an Airtime card or your next month of service.”  Seems like something that is seriously going to cause them issues and lots of unhappy customers if they didn’t see it coming. I can’t seem to find per-minute rates anywhere on their website, but I’ve contacted customer service via email for more info. I’ll update if I hear back.
• LTE is not supported – It’s not listed anywhere on the site, but there is a vague section that states nothing is ever throttled. Which would be nice if they actually supported LTE bands…
• Tethering/hotspotting is not allowed – This is actually no surprise, as a lot of companies don’t allow it, but I’d think this would be listed somewhere a little more prominent than buried in FAQ.
• iPhones will probably not work well – There’s a whole section about all of the things that iPhones may have trouble with including AT&T MMS and Group Text, sending MMS to non-iPhones, data on iPhones and possibly iMessage. The FAQ helpfully says you’ll need to update APN settings (but doesn’t say how), then says your iPhone may require additional changes and suggests that users Google it.

I am sure that there are more that I’m not aware of, so if you find any please leave me a comment below!

Impressions

So far, I’m putting a caution sticker on this company at the moment. All new companies are a bit of a gamble and I’m not going to go so far as to say that this one isn’t legit or a good option, but there are a handful of things that look like classic new-company mistakes (like having a total of 40 different plans) and some questionable practices (like charging a balance for a prepaid account). If you do decide to take the leap, I might suggest going with a number you aren’t particularly attached to and stick with a lower-balance plan for now. Then, come back here and tell me what you thought!]]>