BirchMobile was a mobile product brand of Birch Communications, a phone and internet company founded in 1996. Birch added prepaid wireless through its Tempo unit in 2013. Fusion Connect closed its acquisition of Birch on May 7, 2018, and Wikipedia lists Birch as defunct in 2018.
BirchMobile was acquired
BirchMobile belonged to Birch Communications. Fusion Connect closed its acquisition of Birch on May 7, 2018, in a deal valued at about $600 million, and folded Birch into its business. Wikipedia lists Birch as defunct in 2018. The sources do not give a separate end date for the BirchMobile brand, so it may have stopped earlier. Fusion Connect serves business customers.
If you had a BirchMobile line
Birch customers became Fusion Connect customers in 2018, but no source shows a consumer wireless plan at Fusion. There is no BirchMobile account to port from today. If your old number still works, the carrier that holds it now can give you its account number and transfer PIN. For old Birch records, contact Fusion Connect.
How BirchMobile ended
- 1996: Access Integrated Networks is founded; it later becomes Birch Communications.
- July 1, 2008: The company takes the Birch Communications name after merging with Birch Telecom.
- July 9, 2013: Birch’s prepaid unit Tempo Telecom launches prepaid wireless on Sprint’s network.
- November 2013: Birch announces prepaid wireless services through Tempo Communications.
- May 7, 2018: Fusion Connect closes its acquisition of Birch Communications.
- June 15, 2019: Fusion Connect files for Chapter 11; it emerges January 14, 2020.
Why BirchMobile ended
BirchMobile ended with its parent. Fusion Connect bought Birch Communications in 2018 for about $600 million, including the refinancing of $444 million of Birch debt, and integrated Birch into its own business. Fusion focuses on business communications, not consumer mobile plans. The sources do not record a separate shutdown notice for BirchMobile, so the brand most likely faded out as Birch was absorbed.
How to find who holds an old number now
- Check an old bill or payment record. It names the company that billed you last.
- Run the number through a carrier lookup tool. It shows the carrier that holds the number today.
- Call that carrier and ask for the account number and transfer PIN.
- Start the port from the new carrier. Never cancel the old line first.
Your right to keep a number
Number portability is federal law, not a carrier policy. The rule is the FCC’s: Portability: Keeping Your Phone Number When Changing Service Providers.
How we verified BirchMobile
BestCellular.com tracks active carriers and defunct ones. We keep both, because people still search for brands that no longer exist. Every fact on this page comes from the sources listed below, and we leave a detail out when no source states it. Where sources disagree, this page says so. If you can document a correction, tell us and we will check it against the sources.
Tracked and active are different counts on this site. BirchMobile counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.
Questions about BirchMobile
Is BirchMobile still available?
No. BirchMobile was a brand of Birch Communications, which Fusion Connect acquired on May 7, 2018. Wikipedia lists Birch as defunct in 2018, and no BirchMobile service is offered today.
Which network did BirchMobile use?
The sources do not name a network for the BirchMobile brand. Birch’s prepaid unit, Tempo Telecom, ran on Sprint’s 3G and LTE networks when it launched in 2013, according to Fierce Network.
What happened to BirchMobile customers?
Birch customers became part of Fusion Connect after the May 7, 2018 acquisition. Fusion serves businesses, and the sources show no consumer wireless plan there. Any BirchMobile line that still works now belongs to another carrier.
Who bought Birch Communications?
Fusion Connect closed its purchase of Birch Communications Holdings on May 7, 2018. The deal was valued at about $600 million. Fusion later filed for Chapter 11 on June 15, 2019 and emerged on January 14, 2020.
Sources
Checked October 13, 2026.
- Wikipedia: Birch Communications: BirchMobile brand; November 2013 prepaid wireless via Tempo; Fusion acquisition closed May 7, 2018; defunct 2018.
- Fierce Network: Sprint MVNO Tempo Telecom launches prepaid service starting at $10 per month: July 9, 2013: Tempo is Birch’s prepaid subsidiary on Sprint’s network.
Best Cellular. “BirchMobile: What Happened,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/birchmobile/
Free to reuse with credit. Licence, sources and the full dataset. All defunct carriers are listed on carriers that shut down.