Best Use for BYOD Only Carriers

When you go through the Coverage page on DWR, you may notice a lot of carriers (usually MVNO/Prepaid) that are "BYOD Only" and may be wondering why a carrier would not offer its own lineup of phones.

Well, while not all carriers may agree with what we are about to say, it is probably the best business model for BYOD Only Carriers.

These carriers may certainly offer the best rate plans and offer the coverage you already know and trust simply by not offering their own lineup of phones, which lowers their need of any overhead. No Phones means they can operate online only and would only need to ship out a SIM card to activate your service.

Most end users will not like this business model, simply because there are no options to upgrade their devices. This is especially true when the devices start to age and begin to no longer function as well as before. Like the battery no longer holds a charge for as long as it used to, or the phone starts to lag and freeze up.

However, this is a great option for those traveling from other countries and simply need service for the time they are in the USA. (Many of these carriers seem to notice this as a good market and have plans for such.)

These carriers are also a good option for anyone willing to buy fully unlocked devices up front.
This tends to make the phones more expensive for the consumer, as it is not tied with a plan or carrier.

While not as good of an option, if you know you will be with your same phone for a long time, you can always take your current phone to these carriers and save a bit on your monthly bill.

The lack of all the overhead from having to sell devices means these carriers tend to have the best rate plans.
As such, when we review rate plans, we give BYOD Only carriers their own section for this reason.