At CES last week, Cox Communications formally launched its cellular service, Cox Mobile. Cox Mobile is operating as a Verizon MVNO, meaning it uses Verizon's network to provide coverage to its customers.
According to Fierce Wireless, Cox Mobile will augment Verizon's coverage through Cox Communication's network of 4 million WiFi hotspots. This is something that other cable MVNOs like Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile do with their subscribers and respective WiFi hotspot networks. And just like those other cable MVNOs, in order to become a Cox Mobile subscriber you must already have or signup for another service from Cox Communications, Cox Internet. AutoPay billing, Cox calls this EasyPay, and paperless billing are also required for signup.
Cox Mobile Plans And Pricing
Cox Mobile's plans and pricing are rather unimaginative as they closely mirror those provided by Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile. There's a "Pay as You Gig" plan priced at $15/GB, the same as Xfinity Mobile's "By the Gig" plan whereas Spectrum Mobile charges $14/GB. However, both Xfinity and Spectrum's pay-per-GB plans are shared data plans. Subscribers do not have to pay a monthly fee for additional lines of service whereas Cox Mobile's "Pay as You Gig" plan is per GB per line pricing. Cox Mobile and Xfinity Mobile both charge extra for taxes and fees but Spectrum Mobile does not. Subscribers that use more than 5GB of monthly data on Cox's Pay as You Gig plan will have their data speeds reduced to 1.5Mbps download and 750Kbps upload for the remainder of their billing cycle.
Cox Mobile does not make it clear if their plans allow you to use your phone as a mobile hotspot or not. However, their terms and conditions make it seem like hotspot is included with plans but it may not be used in a way that Cox deems excessive.
Like other Cable MVNOs, Cox Mobile is offering what it calls an unlimited plan, "Gig Unlimited." It's priced at $45/month per line and includes 20GB of high-speed data each month before data speeds are throttled to 1.5Mbps download and 750Kbps upload. This is the same as Xfinity Mobile's starter unlimited plan whereas Spectrum Mobile's starter unlimited plan costs $29.99 and also includes 20GB of data at up to 5G data speeds before throttling to 1Mbps download and 512Kbps upload.
Cox Mobile does not specify if its customers will have access to Verizon's 5G Ultra-Wideband network for the fastest available 5G data speeds on Verizon or if their plans include any priority data. However, the Cox Mobile coverage map shows customers will at least have access to Verizon's 5G Nationwide and 4G LTE networks.
Cox Mobile is available to both bring your own device customers and those in need of a new phone. At the moment, Cox only offers a very limited selection of phones. Available phones with any available promotional pricing are listed below.
- Samsung Galaxy A03s - $6.67/mo for 24 months or $159.99
- Samsung Galaxy A13 5G - $8.34/mo or $199.99
- Samsung Galaxy A53 5G - $14.59/mo or $349.99
- Samsung Galaxy S22 - $18.75/mo or $449.99
- Samsung Galaxy S22+ - $27.09/mo or $649.99
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra - $35.42/mo or $849.99
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 - $41.67/mo or $999.99
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 - $75/mo or $1799.99
The lack of any iPhones being sold at launch is something to take note of. Since Cox Mobile does not sell iPhones, Apple may not have proper carrier bundles for Cox Mobile to work fully as intended with BYOD iPhones. BestMVNO reported nearly six years ago, that Apple doesn't like to enable full cellular service on its phones for a given provider unless that provider offers Apple some sort of compensation, namely, to sell new iPhones. This is a policy that Apple still seems to be practicing today.
It makes a whole lot of sense for Cox Mobile to jump into the wireless market. Charter with Spectrum Mobile and Comcast with Xfinity Mobile have both shown that they've been able to add subscribers at a rapid pace. BestMVNO contributing author Jon Horovitz has written multiple times about the rise and growth of cable MVNOs noting last summer that they hit over 9 million subscribers combined. And BestMVNO's wireless subscriber tracker shows that as of 3Q22 Spectrum has 4.7 million wireless subscribers, Xfinity Mobile over 4.9 million, and Optimum Mobile 236,000.