Optimum Mobile, looking to aggressively grow its subscriber base, has just launched a new offer. The offer is for new lines only and gives customers 12 months of free wireless service.
Optimum Mobile's Free Phone Plan Offer Details And Fine Print
The plan that Optimum Mobile is giving away for free is its base plan, which normally costs $19/month or $14/month if you are an Optimum or Suddenlink Internet customer. The plan includes unlimited talk and text with 1GB of monthly high-speed data. Data speeds are reduced to 2G for the remainder of the billing cycle once the high-speed allotment has been passed. High-speed data top-ups are available and priced at $6 for an additional 1GB. Video streaming is limited to SD quality or about 480p. Hotspot is available but tethering data speeds are limited to 600Kbps.
Optimum Mobile's free phone plan offer does have some other fine print attached to it. For starters, it's only available in select markets where either Optimum or Suddenlink Internet is available. It's also only available to you if you are already either an Optimum or Suddenlink Internet subscriber, or you sign up to become one when you select the free plan. Update: One reader left a comment down below showing that you may not have to be an Optimum or Suddenlink Internet subscriber to get the plan. A customer support chat representative told me an internet plan is not needed. I am looking to further confirm this. You can check out the comment threads on this here.
Optimum Mobile doesn't seem to make checking availability in your area all that easy. When I used their coverage checker, it showed that I'm covered with 4G LTE and 5G in my area. However, when I attempted to go through the check out process to buy a plan, I was told it's not available in my area, which was to be expected. I don't live in a location serviced by either Optimum Internet or Suddenlink.
The free plan offer is available for new lines of service only and a maximum of five lines are allowed per account. There is also a $20 activation fee charged per line, so service isn't 100% free to signup. Bring your own device is supported, but you can also purchase a phone from Optimum if you need one. After the 12-months of free service is up, customers will pay the plan's regular rate. An end date for this offer has not been specified. Update: An end date of 5/15 is now showing on the Optimum website. Update: 5/16 - The free phone plan offer has been extended at least until 6/5/2022.
Optimum Mobile uses the T-Mobile network for coverage.
In early January of 2022, Optimum Mobile began offering phone and internet plan bundle discounts. The free plan offer appears to be the first promotional deal available involving the new plan bundles. Bundle deals are popular offerings from cabled based MVNOs. Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile, both have been accumulating subscribers at a rapid pace also offer bundle options.
Latest advertising says this offer ends May 15.
If you have a “supported” BYOD Moto phone don’t bother unless you can live with no VVM which they state in FAQ BUT in addition no VM notifications of any sort at all AND in addition, no missed call notifications if you have phone off, in airplane mode or in no signal area.
Pathetic.
Basically useless as a mobile phone service and CS that easily surpasses Trac brands customer disservice circus for useless and time waste.
I feel sorry for people who only have this company in their area for cable/internet service.
Did they ever respond?
I’ll be picking up SIM kit shortly.
Friend in Optimum area tells me they are advertising this deal (along with others) pretty heavily on TV.
Thanks for that info! I did not hear from them
I believe this is incorrect –
“…….It’s also only available to you if you are already either an Optimum or Suddenlink Internet subscriber, or you sign up to become one when you select the free plan.”
The offer fine print says you have to subscribe to their internet plan to get the promo. And if you go through the check out process, it will also tell you that you have to have their internet
I was able to checkout and am not a customer of Altice/Optimum/Suddenlink/Cablevision
I only see the requirement to have internet applying to getting discounted rate after 12 months.
I just went through the checkout process one step further than I did for the article by creating an actual account and password and using a zip code in another area that offers their service. I also spoke to a customer support representative. Here’s what I saw and what I was told, and I imagine you saw the same?
Prior to adding the plan to the account I see “Show price with Internet + Mobile Savings
Must have Optimum/Suddenlink Internet and Optimum Mobile to qualify for discounts plans” – The plan is a free discount plan, so this implies to me that you have to have internet or have to signup for internet after getting the plan. They could also just be referring to their bundle savings here.
On checkout page, after I created a password, (I think this also showed before:)
“$0.00 plan + taxes. Excludes Internet + Mobile Savings to be applied after sign-up.” This implies to me internet still needed, otherwise kind of odd to me to point this out.
The chat rep, however, said no internet plan is needed. So that is very surprising and would be pretty amazing deal. I am going to follow up with someone else above customer support.
Did you actually buy the plan, or just go through the checkout process without completing it? I can’t actually buy it, since I’m not in a service area
Yes, open to interpretation either way but I still feel they all refer to discounted services not this promo specifically and they failed to update their site (typical Optimum, a MISERABLE co.).
I actually bought it.
I was unable to use a form of payment & shipping address with a different zip code than the service qualifying area zip code so made a privacy card (u can use any billing address u want) & sent to a qualifying address. If I can’t change the delivery address with shipper I will pick it up when I pass through. Not sure why they are so restrictive? Maybe they are still offloading traffic to their wifi/subnetwork? Thought that ended with the leaving Sprint.
Reports on SD of successful activation, unclear if they are Optimum customers but a few imply they are not.
Thanks for the update! I did add a reference to your comments into the article and am waiting for a more clear response from an Optimum rep.
No problem. Maybe ask them if the offer has an end date? Can’t seem to find an answer to that.