Common Cents Mobile was a pay-per-minute prepaid brand from Sprint Nextel, sold only at Walmart. It launched in May 2010 at 7 cents per minute or text. In April 2011, Sprint said it would fold the brand into Virgin Mobile’s payLo line in May 2011. Existing customers kept their rate.
Common Cents Mobile was folded into Virgin Mobile
Sprint Nextel launched Common Cents Mobile in May 2010 as a pay-per-minute prepaid brand for voice-focused users. It charged 7 cents per minute or text and was sold only at Walmart. On April 8, 2011, Fierce reported that Sprint would fold it into Virgin Mobile payLo in May 2011. Common Cents left Walmart shelves in mid-May, and Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk plans took its space.
If you had a Common Cents Mobile line
Customers went to Virgin Mobile USA’s payLo line. No action was needed. Active customers kept the 7-cent rate and could buy Virgin Mobile top-up cards. If you still use that number, it now lives with whatever carrier you last ported it to.
How Common Cents Mobile ended
- May 2010: Sprint Nextel launches Common Cents Mobile at Walmart, 7 cents per minute or text.
- April 8, 2011: Sprint confirms it will fold Common Cents Mobile into Virgin Mobile payLo.
- May 2011: Common Cents Mobile leaves Walmart shelves and moves under Virgin Mobile payLo.
Why Common Cents Mobile ended
Sprint ran several prepaid brands at once: Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Assurance Wireless and Common Cents Mobile. An analyst at Current Analysis said too many prepaid brands drain marketing money. Common Cents never rolled out nationally and stayed a Walmart-only product aimed at TracFone’s customers. Sprint said the move cut no jobs and was not part of a wider prepaid overhaul.
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 Common Cents Mobile
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. Common Cents Mobile counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.
Questions about Common Cents Mobile
Is Common Cents Mobile still available?
No. Sprint folded Common Cents Mobile into Virgin Mobile payLo in May 2011, about a year after launch. The brand left Walmart shelves in mid-May 2011 and has not returned.
Which network did Common Cents Mobile use?
Common Cents Mobile was a Sprint Nextel brand, and it ran on Sprint’s network. The Wikipedia list of US MVNOs shows Sprint as its host network. Sprint then folded the brand into its Virgin Mobile payLo line.
What happened to Common Cents Mobile customers?
They moved to Virgin Mobile payLo with no action needed. Active customers kept the 7-cents-per-minute rate, could buy Virgin Mobile top-up cards, and gained access to more payLo plans and phones, according to Fierce in April 2011.
How much did Common Cents Mobile cost?
It charged 7 cents per minute or per text. A $20 refill card bought 30 days of service and a $30 card bought 60 days. Partial minutes were rounded down, and unused money was lost at the end of a term.
Sources
Checked October 13, 2026.
- Fierce Network: Sprint discontinues Common Cents Mobile prepaid brand: May 2010 launch, pricing, fold into Virgin Mobile payLo in May 2011 (April 8, 2011)
- Wikipedia: List of mobile virtual network operators in the United States: Lists Common Cents Mobile on Sprint, ended 2011
Best Cellular. “Common Cents Mobile: What Happened,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/common-cents-mobile/
Free to reuse with credit. Licence, sources and the full dataset. All defunct carriers are listed on carriers that shut down.
Live carriers to look at instead
No carrier took over Common Cents Mobile’s customers. These carriers publish their network and run today.