Cox Enters Cellular Market With Plans Starting at $15 Per Month

Home internet provider Cox Communications is expanding into the US cellular market. 

On Monday, the company launched Cox Mobile(Opens in a new window), which is available only to Cox home internet subscribers in three US cities: Hampton Roads, Virginia; Omaha, Nebraska; and Las Vegas, Nevada. The cellular service will have access to both 4G and 5G networks. 

Cox is offering a pay-as-you-go plan at $15 per month, which is competitive with other affordable cellular services in the country. In return, subscribers get unlimited texts in the US and internationally, unlimited calls in the US, along with 1GB of data. Once the 1GB threshold is exceeded, the service plan will charge $15 for each additional gigabyte consumed. 

A $45-per-month option features unlimited data, although the speeds will be capped after 20GB of data is consumed. No annual contract is required with either plan.

Both service plans have one big drawback: You can’t bring your own device. Instead, Cox requires you to pay for a new smartphone. Currently, Cox Mobile only supports seven Samsung phones.  

Supported Cox Mobile smartphones.
(Credit: Cox Mobile)

That said, the company plans on offering an option to bring your own device to the network later this year, according to a Cox spokesperson. 

The company is operating the cellular service as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), which means Cox is essentially reselling the cellular access from a mainstream mobile carrier, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. 

“Contractual limitations limit the extent we can discuss our MNO partner,” Cox’s spokesperson told PCMag, “but what we can say is that customers will have access to reliable 4G LTE and 5G coverage, as well as to 4 million Cox Wi-Fi hotspots.” 

For Cox customers based elsewhere, the company plans on rolling out the cellular service to all remaining markets throughout the rest of the year. Subscribers can also transfer their existing numbers to Cox Mobile. The company’s coverage map(Opens in a new window) shows Cox Mobile’s 4G access covers most of the country, but the 5G access is reserved for mainly major US cities. Interested consumers can go to Cox Mobile’s website(Opens in a new window) to sign up.