Credo Mobile MVNO dumps Sprint for Verizon: source

According to a source with knowledge of the company’s plans, Credo Mobile has moved from Sprint to Verizon as its MVNO host network. The change-over occurred this weekend.

Credo Mobile didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment from FierceWireless. Sprint and Verizon officials also either declined to comment or did not return a request for comment – standard practice among wireless carriers regarding their MVNO partners.

According to the source, Credo switched to Verizon from Sprint for all of its new customer activations except for those who bring their own devices. The MVNO will still use Sprint’s network for those BYOD customers due to Sprint’s relatively open stance toward BYOD in general. The source noted that just 10 percent of Credo’s new customers bring their own devices; the remainder generally purchase phones from the company itself.

The source said Credo counts around 100,000 customers.

A switch away from Sprint appears to be reflected on Credo’s website. The company previously boasted that its wireless network services “are provided on the Nationwide Sprint Network.” Today, however, Credo notes only that it offers “nationwide 4G LTE coverage. Because it matters.” The MVNO makes no mention of its host network.

Verizon’s latest network tagline is “better matters.”

Founded in 1985, Credo gives customers the ability to make donations for progressive causes they believe in at no extra cost. The company sells the iPhone and other smartphones under two-year contracts as well as through no-contract options.

If Credo is moving away from Sprint, it wouldn’t be the first MVNO to do so. Sprint MVNO Republic Wireless earlier this year inked an agreement with a GSM-based wireless carrier. And in 2013, PTel Mobile, an MVNO that launched in 2001, dumped Sprint in favor of T-Mobile (though PTel shut down services earlier this year).

America Movil’s TracFone remains the nation’s largest MVNO with fully 25.3 million subscribers in the United States. The company sells service from a range of wireless carriers.

Related articles:
Sprint MVNO Republic expands to GSM carrier, will launch new Moto device by April
T-Mobile MVNO PTel Mobile quietly shuts down after 15 years