Today, the MVNO Twigby officially announced that it’ll switch from Sprint’s network to Verizon’s network.1 MVNOs like Twigby are usually prohibited from advertising the names of their host networks, so it’s unsurprising that “Verizon” doesn’t explicitly appear in Twigby’s announcement. However, there are plenty of indicators. Twigby’s announcement includes a red coverage map and describes the new network as the “nation’s largest and most reliable”.
Previously, Twigby allowed voice and text roaming on Verizon’s network for customers outside of the range of Sprint’s network. With the latest change, Twigby will drop Sprint entirely and move to offering voice, text, and data over Verizon’s network. New customers will access Verizon’s network automatically. Existing Twigby customers can continue to use Sprint’s network until at least the end of the year. Customers that want to switch to Verizon sooner can opt to do so.
Overall, I think this change is great for Twigby. Verizon offers far better coverage than Sprint, and Twigby appears to be keeping its prices unchanged for the moment. Some of Twigby’s plans rates are well-priced for Verizon’s network:
US Mobile, another small MVNO offering service over Verizon’s network, still has better prices, but Twigby is offering real competition.
Supposedly, Twigby’s Verizon service includes 5G access for subscribers with compatible phones. I wonder whether iPhone 12 users will actually get 5G service. The MVNO Tello recently advertised 5G service while neglecting to mention that 5G iPhones were not supported.
Footnotes
- News of the network switch appeared earlier, but I think the first big announcement came today.
How so not helpful of you not to mention just what prompted Twigby’s move to Verizon signals. (the worries that T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint would render the Sprint 4g signal orphaned…. esp. after T-Mobile confusingly declared it would be ending Sprint towers by Dec. 31st (except depending on who you listen to, that only means the old 3g signals) But never mind that, you end up sounding like a Verizon shill, repeating without comment (much less criticism) the claim that Verizon has nation’s largest whatever….
Balderdash, in my area, (central Virginia) the Sprint signal is usually much stronger and more resilient than Verizon’s. I recently was visiting my ailing mother in Honey Brook PA…. where again, the Sprint signal was 5 bars, lightnight clear. But Verizon…. dead as a doornail inside buidlings. We all had to go outdoors.
So Mr. “coveragecritic,” how about doing a real service for us — tell us which of the MVNO’s heretofore reliant upon Sprint signals will still be using Sprint after 12/31/21…. or are they all going to Verizon, or (like Republic) simply going out of business?
Hey,
I find the confrontational tone unnecessary. On other parts of my website, I’ve spent an awful lot of time writing about the relative quality and coverage of the major networks. I regularly post about the results published by third-party network evaluators, and I think I have some of the best public-facing commentary on the merits and issues with the methodologies of the evaluation firms. Verizon’s network absolutely offers more coverage than Sprint’s at the national level. If you read enough of my content, you’ll see I regularly point out that what’s true at the national level may not be true in your local area. Seems like that might be the case where you live.
You also mention the T-Mobile & Sprint merger. I’ve written about that extensively.
In a recent post, I discussed Sprint’s shutdown deadlines. The 3g network is slotted to come offline at the end of 2021 as you mention. The 4G network will also come down, but that’s not slotted until 6/30/2022. For what it’s worth, these kinds of deadlines often get pushed back. Further, some MVNOs may migrate off of Sprint’s network earlier than the deadlines for taking the networks offline.
I am so confused by this. When I found out about the move, I sent for the new Red network SIM card. It does not work in our phone even though it is supposed to. After multiple chat sessions with Twigby support, they said, “your address will not be serviced by the new network.” However, if I go directly to Verizon, they said “Yes, your address is served by our network.” Everything I have read about MVNO’s is that they use the bigger carrier’s network. Is there a lower tier network under the Verizon umbrella that Twigby is using and just isn’t advertised? If so, we will have to leave Twigby.
Sounds like a frustrating experience! MVNOs sometimes don’t offer quite as much coverage as their host networks (e.g., an MVNO might not get service from every roaming partner that their host network works with). Whether that’s actually what’s going on in your situation is hard to say.
Have you confirmed that the phone you’re using is definitely compatible with Verizon’s network?
I need to upgrade my phone anyway so I am just going to get a new phone that I know will work on the Verizon network. I am slightly terrified of the final monthly bill as Twigby has been extremely inexpensive, but such is life.