US Mobile Launches Manual Network Switching Tool
US Mobile has launched a new manual network switching tool. The company is tentatively calling it TelePortal. The tool is currently in beta testing, and US Mobile's founder, Ahmed Khattak, has asked Reddit users to help name the feature. Hat tip to Stetson Doggett for pointing this change out to me.
Khattak claims the new tool will enable susbscribers to use their online account dashboards to select a new network on demand. US Mobile operates on the T-Mobile and Verizon networks but is expected to add AT&T as a network partner over the next few months. Customers will also be able to move their service from physical SIM to eSIM and vice versa as well as eSIM to eSIM.
The TelePortal tool will have some limitations. Changing networks and SIMs may result in a brief interruption of service. The change must happen while connected to WiFi. Only eight network changes are allowed per billing cycle and changes are only allowed once every three hours. On a positive note, customers will not have their billing cycle reset when they switch networks. This is in contrast to Red Pocket Mobile which offers a similar tool they call CoverageGenius.
Red Pocket's CoverageGenius feature enables subscribers to switch networks directly through their accounts, without requiring an account number or PIN. Red Pocket advises that the process of switching networks could take from a few minutes to as long as 48 hours. Additionally, upon switching networks, customers will be assigned a new billing date and will be automatically charged for their new plan. So US Mobile's implementation is a major improvement over Red Pocket's internal porting tool since US Mobile subscribers won't incur additional charges for changing networks.
Customers that wish to take advantage of this new feature will still need to be careful about it. Reddit users warn that some entities that use your phone number to provide services, like Zelle, will unregister your phone number from their service when you switch networks. This could result in getting locked out of your account or possibly worse.
I also question how carriers will look at numbers being quickly switched between networks. If it's done too many times in a short period of time will they block the numbers from being ported between networks and flag them for suspicious activity?
US Mobile also did not respond to comments in the Reddit thread asking if physical SIMs can be reused when switching networks using the tool. This would be something very important for prospective customers to know.
US Mobile has been working hard for awhile to try and figure out a way to allow network switching with its plans. In February, BestMVNO reported that US Mobile was testing a dual SIM add-on option to allow subscribers to take advantage of their phone's OS to automatically switch SIMs and networks as needed.
