Articles by Joe Paonessa

Joe Paonessa

Joe Paonessa is the founder of BestMVNO.com. He started BestMVNO in 2013, because like many of you, he was unhappy with the high price he was paying his wireless provider for cell phone service. After researching how to cut costs on his phone bill, he came across the terms MVNO and prepaid wireless, and learned there was a way he could keep using his favorite network without having to pay a premium price for it.

Through BestMVNO.com, Joe shares his research and experiences with MVNOs and prepaid wireless providers, helping others learn how to save money on their phone bills. Joe's current providers are Total Wireless and MobileX. When he's not working on BestMVNO, you may find Joe playing pickleball or going out for a run. For inquiries use the contact button.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn

Ultra Mobile Updates $34 and $44 Data Plus Plans to Include More International Calling and Data

Joe Paonessa - May 28, 2015

Ultra Mobile announced today that they upgraded their Data Plus plans to include unlimited international calling to Hong Kong bringing the number of countries you can call with unlimited talk to 11. The $44 plan also got an increase in 4G LTE data going from 2.5 GB to 4 GB

Affordable New Verizon MVNO Puppy Wireless Launched With 4G LTE Data Speeds

Joe Paonessa - May 26, 2015

Kitty Wireless, a long time dealer and support specialist of and for the Verizon based MVNO Page Plus Cellular has opted to start an MVNO of its own, Puppy Wireless. Puppy Wireless will provide 4G LTE service using Verizon as a backbone and will also provide legacy 3G service through

ATT MVNO PureTalk USA Lowers Prices

Joe Paonessa - May 21, 2015

To become more competitive in the marketplace AT&T MVNO and prepaid wireless provider Pure TalkUSA has announced pricing changes to nearly all of its plans. PureTalk had generally priced their plans on the more expensive side when compared to others. However, the new changes which are highlighted below, are more

Ultra Mobile to Become Available Through Convenient Store 7-Eleven

Joe Paonessa - May 18, 2015

Ultra Mobile hopes to expand its business by offering its products in over 6000 7-eleven stores as reported by phonenews.com. The company is focusing on providing service in areas with large immigrant populations, which is in line with the MVNOs focus on international calling plans. Starting at $19 every plan

GIV Mobile Drops Price of $35 Plan With 1 GB LTE to $30

Joe Paonessa - May 16, 2015

GIV Mobile, a T-Mobile MVNO run by PlatinumTel has opted to lower the price of it’s $35 plan to $30. The plan includes unlimited talk, text, and data with the first 1 GB being at 4G LTE speeds. The plan also includes a $5 international calling credit as well as

Scratch Wireless Ends Unlimited Monthly Data Plans

Joe Paonessa - May 16, 2015

According to a poster on Howard Forums who received an email from Scratch Wireless, the company plans on getting rid of its monthly unlimited data plan. Currently the company offers unlimited data at a rate of $24.99 for 30 days. While the new plan will retain that same price,

Virgin Mobile Adds More Data and Lowers Prices of Data Done Right Plans

Joe Paonessa - May 15, 2015

Today Sprint made an announcement in regards to its prepaid wireless brand Virgin Mobile that should inject more life and excitement into the brand. Starting tomorrow, May 16th the “Data Done Right” single and multi-line plans will include more data while the single line plan will also see a price

Cricket Giving Away All Expenses Paid Trip to 2015 BET Awards as well as Multiple Samsung Galaxy S6’s and a Year of Service

Joe Paonessa - May 11, 2015

For those of you who like free things, Cricket Wireless has announced a sweepstakes for you to enter. Cricket is sponsoring the 2015 BET Awards Afterparty Live Post-Show, and thus is appropriately awarding one VIP grand prize winner with airfare, and a 3 night, 4 day stay in Los Angeles

AT&T GoPhone $45 and $60 Plans Get Rollover Data

Joe Paonessa - May 11, 2015

AT&T announced today that starting on May 15th all new and existing customers on the $45 and $60 monthly GoPhone plans will be given Rollover Data as long as their plan is renewed on time. Existing customers will be eligible for Rollover Data on their next renewal after May 15th.

NET10 Announces New Rate Plans

Joe Paonessa - May 7, 2015

NET10 Offers 5GB LTE Data Promotion if you BYOD Hot on the heals of Straight Talk’s recent plan change, it seems NET10 has one of their own. This should come as no surprise as they are essentially the same company. Just like Straight Talk did, this multi carrier MVNO is

Verizon and Sprint LG G2’s on Sale for $149.99, ATT For $174.99

Joe Paonessa - May 6, 2015

Best Buy is currently running a sale on the Verizon and Sprint LG G2 models, the VS980 and LS980 respectively. This is quite a good price for this 2013 flagship device. The Verizon variant differs from the Sprint in that it is fully unlocked to work both on the ATT

More on T-Mobile’s “Data De-prioritization”

Joe Paonessa - May 6, 2015

UPDATE: 6/18/2015 T-Mobile is now defining 97% as 21 GB of data. 5/6/2015 A few days ago a story broke that T-Mobile’s unlimited data plans may not truly be unlimited after all. Some T-Mobile customers had complained that their data was being throttled, and a few alleged T-Mobile employees chimed

Signing up for Google’s Project Fi will Severely Hinder the Functionality of Google Voice

Joe Paonessa - May 6, 2015

Invitations for Google’s Project Fi wireless service have started going out to some of the people that have requested one. With the invitations have come a few unpleasant surprises. The first unpleasant surprise has to do with porting over Google Voice numbers. If you already have a Google Voice number,

Straight Talk Offering Several Deals Including 5GB of Data to BYOD Customers and Plan Discounts For Paying More Than One Month in Advance

Joe Paonessa - May 5, 2015

Straight Talk Wireless is currently running several promotions that make their prepaid service more attractive and competitive in the market place. The first one is that if you have your own device to bring to the MVNO they’ll up their normal monthly LTE data allotment on their $45 plan

UVA Mobile Launches as a T-Mobile MVNO

Joe Paonessa - May 3, 2015

Currently in Beta testing, UVA Mobile has launched as a prepaid wireless provider that utilizes T-Mobile’s network as a backbone. To help acquire subscribers for the beta launch, UVA is offering special discounts in plan pricing for those who join their program this early in their launch. The early bird