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Total Wireless is rapidly expanding its retail footprint across the United States as Verizon moves to strengthen its presence in the prepaid and value wireless segment.
According to comments from Verizon Value executive Jay Miglionico during a recent appearance on the Boon of Wireless podcast, the brand has now surpassed 2,000 stores nationwide, with 1100 opened in 2025. Total Wireless is keeping pace in 2026 by opening an average of three new locations per day. Miglionico said the company has a goal to reach 4,000 to 5,000 stores across the country as part of its long-term growth strategy.
That strategy has helped make Total Wireless one of the fastest-growing retail brands in prepaid wireless. The Verizon Value Brand is relying on independent wireless dealers and master agents to help it scale quickly. Miglionico says the brand has 16 master agents, with each having specific areas of expertise and support.
A recent prepaid report from Wave7 Research says Texas has the largest number of Total Wireless stores. The brand also has a significant presence in New York, California, Illinois, Florida, and New Jersey.
The expansion highlights how important prepaid has become to Verizon. For years Verizon lagged behind its rivals in prepaid subscribers, but that changed when Verizon acquired TracFone Wireless an its associated brands, including Total Wireless in November 2021. The deal added roughly 20 million prepaid customers to Verizon’s portfolio, pushing its prepaid base to about 24 million subscribers and surpassing AT&T’s roughly 19 million and T-Mobile’s approximately 21 million prepaid customers at the time.
Competing With Metro, Cricket, and Boost
Total Wireless’ rapid expansion appears designed to help Verizon compete more directly with prepaid brands that rely heavily on physical retail, including Metro by T-Mobile, Cricket Wireless, and Boost Mobile.
All three brands maintain large retail footprints and rely on storefront locations to drive activations, device upgrades, and customer acquisition.
For prepaid customers, especially those switching carriers or buying budget smartphones, physical stores remain a major distribution channel. Many still prefer in-person help with device setup and number transfers.
Targeting Switchers With Aggressive Promotions
Alongside store expansion, Total Wireless has been pitching promotions aimed directly at customers switching from competing prepaid carriers.
In February, the company introduced a tax-season port-in promotion targeting Cricket customers. The offer discounts Total Wireless' base unlimited plan with a five-year price guarantee. Wave7 Research has reported seeing window signage on Total stores targeting Cricket customers with the pitch "Switch onto the best 5G network and save up to $900 with our 5-year price guarantee and get 4 lines on the 5G Unlimited plan.” In-store switchers get 4 unlimited data lines for $95/month, taxes and fees included. Regular pricing has been $100/month for 4-lines.
Wave7 Research has also observed plenty of store signage for many of Total's other store exclusive offers including:
- "On Us" deals for the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE and iPhone 13 with prepayment of 3-months of service
- iPhone 16e On Us with a Total 5G+ unlimited plan
Promotions like these are common in prepaid wireless, where switcher offers and in-store marketing remain important tools for driving foot traffic and activations.
Total Wireless has also backed a long-running $25 per month unlimited BYOD offer with localized radio advertising. In November 2025 and at least through December, the brand ran radio ads promoting the plan while also citing its store counts in specific markets, including 287 stores in New York, 125 in Houston, and 38 in Dallas.
From Rebrand to Retail Growth
The Total Wireless brand has gone through multiple changes in recent years. Verizon rebranded Total Wireless as Total by Verizon in 2022, a move BestMVNO previously covered. In 2024, Verizon changed the name back to Total Wireless, which BestMVNO also reported on, as part of a broader repositioning of the brand with greater emphasis on physical retail.
Aside from branded stores, Total Wireless is also sold at multiple national retailers with a strong presence at Walmart. It can also be found at Best Buy, Target, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Meijer, and Kroger.
Interestingly, Total Wireless does not appear to have a presence in the multi-carrier dealer channel, where another Verizon Value Brand, Simple Mobile, remains dominate. Simple Mobile typically ranks as the top-carried prepaid brand among dealers in Wave7 Research’s quarterly prepaid dealer survey. That contrast shows Verizon is using different Value Brands for different sales channels, with Total Wireless more heavily focused on branded store expansion.