T-Mobile Closes Mint Mobile Deal, Promises to Keep $15 Monthly Plan Option - CNET

It took longer than expected, but T-Mobile has finally completed its purchase of prepaid provider Mint Mobile. After gaining FCC approval last week, T-Mobile announced on Wednesday that it has closed the acquisition of Mint-parent company Ka'ena Corporation. 

First announced in March of last year, T-Mobile faced some challenges getting the purchase approved by regulators. As part of its concessions, the carrier agreed to unlock devices purchased on Mint Mobile and its sister company Ultra Mobile after 60 days, including devices purchased before T-Mobile acquired the companies and those purchased going forward.

Given that Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile (as well as Plum, a wireless wholesaler also owned by Ka'ena) were already running on T-Mobile's network, users of the services shouldn't see any real changes to coverage or performance and devices should continue to function normally. 

The carrier also reiterated on Wednesday that it plans to keep Mint Mobile's $15 per month as an option going forward for both new and existing customers, though it is unclear if it will guarantee a minimum allotment of the 5GB of high-speed data that Mint currently offers. T-Mobile also says it will "soon" offer Mint Mobile users 3GB of high-speed data when roaming in Canada, an option for faster roaming in Mexico for Ultra Mobile users. 

Both Mint and Ultra users will also soon be able to take advantage of T-Mobile's "Scam Screener" that will display "scam likely" on the caller IDs of their phones when "sketchy calls" come in. Among the other promises T-Mobile is making, it says that Mint Mobile's new customer offer of $15 per month for unlimited data for three months will remain for the remainder of 2024. 

As previously announced, Mint Mobile's part owner and spokesman Ryan Reynolds will continue to hang around in a "creative role on behalf of Mint." Reynolds took to social media on Wednesday to share a video announcing the close of the deal. 

Everyone wins (esp the graphics departmint) pic.twitter.com/VLyQWK4rq3