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Optimum Mobile Plans & Customer Service Information

PROS
  • Seamlessly connects from LTE/5G to WiFi hotspots to help you save data
  • Provides usage alerts to help know when you reach data limits
  • International travel add-ons available
  • Good introductory rates for new customers
  • Sells phones to meet variety of budgets
CONS
  • Only available in select markets serviced by Optimum and Suddenlink
  • Price costs $10 more each month without Optimum/Suddenlink subscription

Since 2013, I’ve been researching, reviewing, and writing about the wireless industry through BestMVNO with a focus on MVNOs.

In this guide, I will explain everything you need to know about Optimum Mobile before you subscribe. I’ll review each of their phone plans with you, and go over any gotchas that they might have. I want you to learn the ins and outs of Optimum Mobile so that you can make an informed decision on if this is the best place for you to spend your money.

Sections

Optimum Mobile Phone Plans

Last Updated: Sep 26, 2024

Single Line Monthly Prepaid Plans

1 GB
$15/Mo
$180/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 1GB
3 GB
$25/Mo
$300/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 3GB
20 GB
$45/Mo
$540/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 5GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
50 GB
$55/Mo
$660/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 15GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps

Prepaid Family Plans

20 GB
$60/Mo
$720/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 5GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
50 GB
$80/Mo
$960/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 15GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
20 GB
$90/Mo
$1080/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 5GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
50 GB
$120/Mo
$1440/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 15GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
20 GB
$120/Mo
$1440/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 5GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
50 GB
$160/Mo
$1920/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 15GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
20 GB
$125/Mo
$1500/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 5GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps
50 GB
$175/Mo
$2100/Annually
  • Unlimited Minutes
  • Unlimited Texts
  • Hotspot 15GB Full Speed + Unlimited 600Kbps

How Optimum Mobile Plans Work

Optimum Mobile first officially launched as Altice Mobile in September of 2019 and it is run by the cable operator Altice USA. In July of 2021, Altice Mobile was rebranded to Optimum Mobile. The brand is unique among all other MVNOs in that it does partially have its own network infrastructure. The company partnered with Sprint for the network build-out.

Through the partnership, Sprint used Altice USA’s broadband infrastructure to deploy more than 19,000 small cells around the greater New York City area which includes Long Island. Small cells are necessary to lay the groundwork for a 5G network. The partnership allowed Altice to gain access to Sprint’s wireless network while maintaining the ability to run its own underlying core network infrastructure.

When T-Mobile and Sprint merged, Altice’s contractual agreement with Sprint expanded to include T-Mobile. The updated contract granted Altice USA’s Optimum Mobile brand access to T-Mobile’s 4G LTE and 5G networks for a period of 7 years, 3 more years than what Altice had with Sprint alone.

The company also has a roaming agreement in place with AT&T.

Optimum Mobile Offers 3 Basic Phone Plans

When Altice Mobile first launched, only an unlimited plan was available. It launched for $20 and was by far the best outright wireless plan deal around. Since then the service was expanded to include more plans. In September of 2020, two plans with a limited amount of data were launched starting at $12/month but later increased to $14/month.

Optimum Mobile gives a $10/month discount on all phone plans to those who also subscribe to either Optimum or Suddenlink internet packages. The plans are shown on the company’s website already including this discount. The plans are displayed the same way here.

A quick look at Optimum Mobile’s three phone plans reveal the following options and price points:

  • Free for new lines – 1GB high-speed data. Free for one year then renews at $14/month, maximum of 5-lines allowed on plan
  • $14/month ($29 w/o Optimum or Suddenlink subscription) – 1GB high-speed data
  • $22/month ($32 w/o Optimum or Suddenlink subscription) – 3GB high-speed data
  • $45/month ($55 w/o Optimum or Suddenlink subscription) – 20GB high-speed data

No multi-line discounts except for on the $45/month plan. Subscribers can manage multiple lines under one account. A maximum of 5 lines is allowed under a residential customer’s account. A business account can have a maximum of 10 lines. Taxes and fees cost extra.

If a customer runs out of high-speed data on the $14 or $22 plan they can add more. Data top-ups are priced at a cost of $6 for 1GB and last for up to 30 days. The top-ups are not available on the $30 plan.

All plans include the ability for the subscriber to use their phone as a mobile hotspot. Unlimited international texting and calling add-ons are available starting at $20/month. Customers can also add international talk, text, and data roaming to their plans starting at $10/day for a daily pass or $40 for a weekly pass. International add-on rates vary based on where a customer is traveling and where they need to call. Travel passes DO NOT include unlimited talk, text, or data.

Optimum Mobile 5G
Optimum Mobile 5G Included

Altice phones also use Suddenlink and Optimum WiFi hotspots for further expanded coverage. Subscribers should be able to automatically connect from LTE/5G networks to WiFi hotspots to get the strongest signal available at their given location.

Optimum Mobile’s Phone Plans Come With Fine Print

Unfortunately, Optimum Mobile phone plans come with quite a deal of hidden and not so hidden fine print.

For starters, Optimum Mobile is advertising the $45 plan as an “unlimited GB” plan. But as detailed above, the plan only has 20GB of high-speed data. Most consumers in the know, including myself, would argue that unlimited GB means unlimited high-speed data. But Altice elected to take a lax approach here with the meaning of the word unlimited. Technically speaking, all plans do include unlimited data. Once each plan’s monthly high-speed data allotment runs out, data speeds are reduced to 2G or about 128Kbps for the remainder of the customer’s billing cycle. But at that speed, video streaming is just about impossible and loading websites will be extremely slow if they can even load at all.

Although the plans all support mobile hotspot, data speeds when a plan is being used for hotspot tethering are limited to a maximum of 600Kbps. Video streaming on all plans is also limited to a maximum resolution of 480p which should be about 1Mbps.

According to Optimum Mobile’s terms of service, those on the 4G LTE network can expect data download speeds in the range of 4 to 47 Mbps and upload speeds of 1 to 20 Mbps. If a customer has 5G service, download data speeds can be expected to be in the range of 30 to 75 Mbps and upload speeds between 3 and 15 Mbps.

Unfortunately, Altice Mobile’s phone plans are not available to everyone nationwide. Altice only serves subscribers in markets that are also serviced by either Suddenlink or Optimum cable. Less than two dozen states have access to those services including parts of New York, California, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, Kentucky, Kansas, Nevada, and Oklahoma among several others. Altice Mobile doesn’t really explain the location limitations on their website. However, once you pick a plan to begin the signup process, they’ll let you know if you are eligible to subscribe or not.

Although Altice’s phone plans are not available to everyone nationwide, service is available across the country. The primary network used for service is now T-Mobile. AT&T is used for roaming. Domestic data roaming is limited to 2G data speeds.


Supported Phones And BYOD Devices

Optimum Mobile supports a wide variety of phones.  Most unlocked phones will work on the network.  Optimum and Suddenlink customers will have the option to purchase a variety of phones paid in full or through device financing.  Financing options include zero-down, zero-interest, 36-month agreements.


Where To Buy Service Plans And SIM Cards

SIM cards and plan are available online through Altice Mobile and through Altice USA Optimum and Suddenlink stores.


Optimum Mobile Logo:
Optimum Mobile Logo

Year Founded: 2019
Subscribers: 288,000
Networks Used: T-Mobile
LTE Bands Used: 245126671
5G Bands Used: n41 (2500MHz)n71 (600MHz)n258 (24GHz)n260 (39GHz)n261 (28GHz)
Support For BYOD: Yes
Sells Phones: Yes
All Taxes And Fees Included In Price? No
Online Payment Options:

Optimum Mobile Contact Information

Website:
Phone Number: 1-866-200-7186
Address/Headquarters:

1 Ct Square, Queens, New York 11120, US

Social Media Accounts


Optimum Mobile Customer Reviews

2.7 12 votes
Download Speeds
2.4 13 votes
Customer Support
2.6 12 votes
Upload Speeds
3 12 votes
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William
William
1 year ago
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I’ve had them since they were known as Altice Mobile, I am on their $45 a month plans and have had no problem with the speed, the customer support. I’ve passed my monthly limit and speeds have been very adequate.

SEP
SEP
2 years ago
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I joined from the start because ATT screwed me over after 25 years of loyalty and the $20 a month they were offering sounded great. It’s definitely had some quirks over the years. But so did ATT and any other mobile service. I use mostly wi-fi since I have optimum service but cell service has been fine. Main issue is when you’re in motion it doesn’t switch towers smoothly; sometime I have to update the connection but I feel like this is from piggy-backing off other towers.
I’ve always been pleased with Optimum’s customer service(been a customer since Cabelvision). However I’m less pleased with the CS from the mobile side and even on the cable side; since they started as Altice the service has gone down. In the actual stores; service is better. And ATT customer service is even worse.

Pros
The price. If you got in from the start with the $20 unlimited- there's no beating it
CONS
Any 3rd party cell provider will not have as good cell service as a primary. Because the tower operators prioritize their own customers. If you have the cable service set up automatic wi-fi
City/State (Optional) helpful to others
Central New Jersey
Brand of Phone, Samsung, Motorola, Apple?
Samsung Galaxy S9- now S22
J H
J H
2 years ago
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Terrible service. I constantly get made fun of and lose service. Would not recommend for cell service.

gary crain
gary crain
2 years ago
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I have been a optima customer for a 10 months now.

Pros
Inexpensive and at times very useful
CONS
Extra data does not add automatically when needed.. in fact it is quite a process to add data
City/State (Optional) helpful to others
Amarillo
Brand of Phone, Samsung, Motorola, Apple?
18064104707
Chuck
Chuck
2 years ago
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A

Pros
Have never experience problems with this carrier. The price is reasonable, I live in NY so signal is never a problem.
CONS
Contact through the internet
City/State (Optional) helpful to others
Kew gardens
Brand of Phone, Samsung, Motorola, Apple?
Apple 12
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