Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
Thanks to pretty constant marketing, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Mint Mobile. The Ryan Reynolds-owned carrier prides itself in affordable pricing and is notable for only offering its plans in prepayment packages of 3, 6, or 12 months. If you’ve considered Mint Mobile, you might be curious about what towers Mint Mobile uses as well as what the Mint Mobile coverage map looks like. Good question!
What cell towers does Mint Mobile use?
Mint Mobile is an MVNO. That means it partners with another network to provide customers with service. In this case, Mint partners with T-Mobile and works exclusively with T-Mobile radio equipment to provide both 4G LTE and 5G access. Of course, there’s a bit more to it than that.
A cell phone tower is made up of several parts, including a fiber optic internet connection. This and government regulations make it pretty expensive to put up a tower and maintain it. In order to keep costs manageable, sometimes multiple carriers will share the same tower, though there will be a different radio system for each carrier that uses the tower.
In other words, Mint might use a tower shared by AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile in some situations. That said, it will only use T-Mobile’s radio equipment.
Is the Mint Mobile coverage map the same as T-Mobile’s?
Yes, for the most part, Mint Mobile and T-Mobile have identical coverage maps. That said, T-Mobile postpaid customers will likely have roaming agreements and other arrangements that improve their coverage. This won’t be available to Mint Mobile users. You can take a closer look at Mint Mobile’s coverage map, as well as T-Mobile’s map, for comparison.
Can you use Verizon or AT&T phones on Mint Mobile?
Although Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile’s network exclusively, it is very possible your existing AT&T or Verizon phone can be brought over to Mint’s network. Most newer phones released in the United States have all the GSM, CDMA, 5G, and LTE bands required to work on just about any carrier. T-Mobile, in particular, uses some of the most common bands present in phone hardware, and so that helps ensure compatibility.
Not every phone will work, however. First, the phone will need to be unlocked. Many carriers automatically unlock phones after a certain period of use, but the exact steps required will vary depending on your carrier. Providing the phone isn’t locked to another network, you’ll be able to bring it to Mint as long as it works with the required T-Mobile bands.
You can check Mint Mobile’s compatibility tool to see if your existing phone will play nicely or not. Conversely, you can download the Mint Mobile app and can even activate the service immediately if your phone has an eSIM card.
