On August 1, US Mobile finally launched on the AT&T network branding it "Dark Star." The release had been planned for months with several launch dates scheduled only to be later pushed back. The network offering was initially going to be called "Death Star."
The release of service on AT&T's network gives US Mobile coverage on all three major wireless carriers in the USA excluding DISH as a 4th major carrier as its network isn't fully developed yet. The prepaid provider uses Warp 5G to refer to its offerings on the Verizon network, and Light Speed to denote the T-Mobile network.
US Mobile is now referring to itself as the "Super Carrier," primarily due to its ability to provide coverage on all three networks and its Teleport feature. Teleport allows subscribers to manually switch between each carrier network as needed for as little as $0 per switch. Each US Mobile plan is sold with at least two free Teleport allowances before customers are billed $2 per use. Their $44/month flagship unlimited plan has Teleport included without additional charges.
Pay To Upgrade To Priority Data on Dark Star
Interestingly, US Mobile is allowing subscribers to pay an additional fee for priority data access when using the Dark Star network. Priority data access allows customers to have faster data speeds during times of network congestion compared to subscribers who don't have it. Warp 5G plans by default come with priority data access when using a 5G device. Light Speed plans do not offer priority data in any capacity.
The Dark Star priority data access upgrade will cost $4/month per line for subscribers on a pay $2/GB shareable data plan and on the "Light" plan. Customers on an unlimited plan will have to pay significantly more for the upgrade at $12/month per line or at a discounted price of $120 on an annual plan. For the tech-savvy, US Mobile's Dark Star plans default to QCI-9, and the upgrade moves them to QCI-8. It's important to note that paying for the QCI upgrade will not change video streaming resolution. For higher video resolution streaming customers will need to enable "Data Waster" mode in their accounts, a feature that US Mobile is eventually expected to charge for.
Pricing of US Mobile plans and their basic features are the same on each network with slight variations on international features offered which you can read more about on the US Mobile website. Below is an abbreviated summary highlighting their offerings.
| Annual Light Plan | By the Gig Shared | Unlimited Flex | Unlimited Starter | Unlimited Premium | |
| Monthly Price | NA | $10 + $2/GB | NA | $25 | $44 |
| Annual Price | $96 ($8/month) | NA | $17.50 | $270 ($22.50/mo) | $390 ($32.50/mo) |
| High-Speed Data | 2GB | 2GB | 10GB | 35GB | 100GB |
| Hotspot | NA | Included | 5GB | 10GB | 50GB |
| Teleport | $2 each* | $2 each* | $2 each* | $2 each* | $2 each* |
*First two teleports ever are free (not per cycle), then it's $2 per teleport. A limit of 8 teleports is allowed per billing cycle. After the high-speed data allotment is reached on unlimited plans, data speeds are reduced to 1Mbps for the remainder of the billing cycle. Taxes and fees are included with all plans.
Cybertruck Giveaway
To commemorate the launch of the Dark Star network, US Mobile is giving away a free Cybertruck with 6 months of Unlimited Premium service.
To qualify for the offer you must activate service on a paid plan by 9/30/24 and stay active through 12/2/24. Custom plans are not eligible.
If you are already a US Mobile customer active on a qualifying plan you are eligible for the contest.
To enter the contest you must guess how many SIM cards are in this video posted on the US Mobile website and submit your guess through an entry form also located on that website. The total price value is $100,264.
Might be good news in some areas, I suppose. In San Francisco, where AT&T service is one step ahead of (behind?) two cans connected by string, it’s irrelevant.