Open Mobile PR Shut Down: Accurate 2026 Answers

Open Mobile PR no longer exists. Sprint took majority control in 2017, the brand became Boost Mobile on May 30, 2018, and Liberty bought the island prepaid subscribers on September 3, 2024. An old Open Mobile number is a Liberty Mobile number now.

Last updated October 21, 2026

Open Mobile PR no longer exists. The Puerto Rico carrier merged into a Sprint joint venture in 2017 and its stores became Boost Mobile stores on May 30, 2018; its prepaid customers later passed to Liberty.

Open Mobile PR is gone

Sprint and Open Mobile combined their Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands businesses in September 2017, with Sprint as the majority owner. The Open Mobile brand was retired on May 30, 2018, and every store was rebranded Boost Mobile that summer.

If you had an Open Mobile line

The number went to Boost Mobile Puerto Rico in 2018. On September 3, 2024, Liberty bought EchoStar’s Puerto Rico and USVI spectrum and prepaid subscribers, so a former Open Mobile prepaid line is a Liberty Mobile line today. The Liberty Mobile page has the current steps.

Open Mobile ran its own network in Puerto Rico and the USVI while it operated, including an LTE build announced in 2011. No Open Mobile account number or transfer PIN exists today; the successor carrier holds the line.

How Open Mobile PR ended

  1. June 12, 2007: Open Mobile launched as the relaunch of NewComm Wireless (Movistar Puerto Rico) after a 2006 bankruptcy.
  2. February 23, 2017: Sprint and Open Mobile announced a joint venture combining their Puerto Rico and USVI businesses; it was approved in September 2017 with Sprint as majority shareholder.
  3. May 30, 2018: The Open Mobile brand was retired; stores became Boost Mobile stores over the summer.
  4. September 3, 2024: Liberty bought EchoStar’s Puerto Rico and USVI spectrum and prepaid subscribers, taking the former Open Mobile base.

The history of Open Mobile PR

Open Mobile was a facilities-based carrier: it held its own PCS and 700 MHz licences, built an LTE network across Puerto Rico from 2011, and even hosted Verizon roaming after Claro shut the island’s old CDMA network in 2014. The Sprint joint venture folded that network and customer base into Sprint’s island operation under the Boost Mobile name. When T-Mobile absorbed Sprint, the Puerto Rico prepaid business passed to DISH, then EchoStar, and finally to Liberty in 2024. Three ownership changes in seven years is why an old Open Mobile number is hard to trace without this page.

How to find who holds an old number now

  1. Check an old bill or payment record. It names the company that billed you last.
  2. Run the number through a carrier lookup tool. It shows the carrier that holds the number today.
  3. Call that carrier and ask for the account number and transfer PIN.
  4. 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.

Open Mobile PR among the US carriers we track, grouped by host network
Open Mobile PR is one of the defunct brands in our carrier dataset.

How we verified Open Mobile PR

Best Cellular tracks active carriers and defunct ones. We keep both, because people still search for brands that no longer exist. Every fact on this Open Mobile PR page comes from at least two independent 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. Open Mobile PR counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.

Open Mobile PR shut down May 30, 2018. Customers went to Liberty Mobile. Reference card from Best Cellular.
Open Mobile PR shut down May 30, 2018. Customers went to Liberty Mobile.

Questions about Open Mobile PR

Is Open Mobile PR still available?

No. The brand was retired on May 30, 2018 after the Sprint joint venture, and its stores became Boost Mobile stores.

Which network did Open Mobile PR use?

Its own. Open Mobile held its own licences and built its own LTE network in Puerto Rico.

Why did Open Mobile PR shut down?

Sprint became majority owner of the combined island business in 2017 and chose the Boost Mobile name for it.

Where were customers sent?

To Boost Mobile Puerto Rico in 2018, and then to Liberty when it bought EchoStar’s island prepaid subscribers on September 3, 2024.

Does BestCellular.com list Open Mobile PR as an active carrier?

No. Open Mobile PR counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, and it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.

Sources and verification

Facts checked October 11, 2026 against at least two independent sources:

Best Cellular. “Open Mobile PR Shut Down: Accurate 2026 Answers,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/open-mobile-pr/

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

Liberty Mobile holds the former Open Mobile prepaid base in Puerto Rico and the USVI.

Ready to make the switch?

Five steps, about ten minutes, and you keep your number. No carrier is allowed to charge you to leave.
See the 5 steps