Ideal Mobile was a small prepaid carrier that ran on the Sprint network. A February 2015 report said it had operated for about five years. It no longer sells service. BestMVNO now lists it as a former MVNO that is no longer in business. No official shutdown date was found.
Ideal Mobile appears to be shut down
Ideal Mobile no longer sells phone service. BestMVNO lists it as a former MVNO that is no longer in business, and marks its old plans as no longer available. The last dated report on the company as an active carrier is from February 2, 2015. BestCellular.com could not find an official end date for the service.
If you had an Ideal Mobile line
No source names a carrier that took over Ideal Mobile customers. Ideal Mobile ran on Sprint, and Sprint’s network has since been shut down, so an old Ideal Mobile phone may not work today. If your number is still active anywhere, ask a new carrier to port it in. Otherwise, pick a new carrier and get a new number.
BestCellular.com could not find an official shutdown notice for Ideal Mobile and will update this page if one is published.
How Ideal Mobile ended
- February 2, 2015: BestMVNO reports Ideal Mobile is a small Sprint MVNO that has operated for about five years, with plans from $40 to $60 a month.
- March 26, 2026: BestMVNO’s Ideal Mobile page lists it as a former MVNO that is no longer in business.
Why Ideal Mobile ended
No source explains why Ideal Mobile stopped selling service. What the sources do show is that it was small and ran only on Sprint. In 2015, BestMVNO called its plans expensive compared with other MVNOs. It built its own billing system and connected it directly to Sprint. Sprint has since merged into T-Mobile and its network was shut down, which left Sprint-only brands without a network. Whether that played a part is not stated.
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 Ideal 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. Ideal Mobile counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.
Questions about Ideal Mobile
Is Ideal Mobile still in business?
It does not appear to be. BestMVNO lists Ideal Mobile as a former MVNO that is no longer in business, and its plans are marked as no longer available. No official shutdown notice or end date was found.
Which network did Ideal Mobile use?
Ideal Mobile ran on the Sprint network. A February 2015 BestMVNO report says it connected its own billing system directly to Sprint. Sprint has since been merged into T-Mobile and its network shut down.
What happened to Ideal Mobile customers?
No source says where Ideal Mobile customers went. No successor carrier was named. Former customers would have needed to port their numbers to another carrier while the line was still active.
What plans did Ideal Mobile offer?
In February 2015, BestMVNO reported plans of $40, $50 and $60 a month. Each had unlimited talk and text and a set amount of high speed data, with slower speeds after that amount was used.
Sources
Checked October 14, 2026.
- BestMVNO: Ideal Mobile an MVNO Operating on the Sprint Network: Sprint MVNO, about 5 years old, $40 to $60 plans; February 2, 2015
- BestMVNO: Ideal Mobile, A Former MVNO No Longer In Business: Former MVNO on Sprint, no longer in business; page modified March 26, 2026
- BestMVNO: Ideal Mobile No Way plan (no longer available): Old plan marked no longer available; read October 14, 2026
Best Cellular. “Ideal Mobile: Appears to Be Shut Down,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/ideal-mobile/
Free to reuse with credit. Licence, sources and the full dataset. All defunct carriers are listed on carriers that shut down.