Remember when all the bad guys purchased burner phones to disguise all their transactions. Well, there’s good news. Now they can use their modern cellphone and add a "Burner eSIM" for those pesky criminal activities. But there’s a silver lining for those of us that don’t traffic in crime for a living. An eSIM lets you add an additional phone line to your new Android phone or iPhone to assure cellular coverage when your primary cell carrier falls short. We previously documented how to add cell coverage from all three of the major U.S. cellular providers for $45 a month. Now we want to document how flexibility pays off with eSIMs.
Today marks the last day of Google Fi’s 50% off promotion on cellular plans for the coming year. At least it’s the last day of savings until Black Friday rolls around in a couple months. The beauty of this promotion if you happen to own a Google Pixel phone is you not only get a great price of $17.50++ a month on the cell plan, but you get the added advantage of ringing as many other PSTN numbers as desired whenever an incoming call arrives on your Pixel phone, whether it’s on or not.
These past few weeks we’ve been entertained by the Reddit discussions surrounding a new T-Mobile MVNO offering a $17 all-you-can-eat plan at optimum cellular speed, an offering that typically is reserved for post-paid plans paying double or triple the MVNO’s offered rate. The plot thickened when this plan was endorsed by one of Reddit’s respected moderators so many immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Then the problems began with some folks screaming that the sky was falling. And it turns out they may not have been mistaken. This scenario is often repeated. As one pundit put it: "This Subreddit Loves Shady Cellphone Service Providers."
This got us wondering why all these folks that are bottom-fishing for bargains didn’t do a bit more research to discover similar offerings at similar prices from well-established companies without having to worry whether the new MVNO on the block would fold its tent in the middle of the night and take your phone numbers with them. And that’s not to suggest that this particular MVNO would do such a thing. I’m simply curious as to why anyone would take the chance. I think the short answer is most of these customers know better than to trust their prized cell number with a new MVNO. Instead, they install a Burner eSIM. If they lose it, they’re only out $17, and a chargeback with most credit card companies would quickly right the ship.
But missing from the MVNO discussion was any mention of competing providers that were offering similar savings without the risks accompanying an unknown company. I’ve already provided one example with Google Fi at the $17.50++ price point for a year. For those that are unaware, the ++ signifies that the customer is also responsible for taxes and fees in addition to the base price. That often adds another couple dollars a month depending upon where you reside. Let’s take a look at some of the other deals that currently are available.
If T-Mobile is your preferred carrier, then there are other options besides Google Fi. For example, MintMobile currently offers a $15++ unlimited data plan for a year as well. And, if you prefer Verizon, our previous article noted that Total Wireless offers an unlimited data plan for 5 years at $20 a month after an initial $30 payment for the first month. If AT&T is your preferred carrier and you also want the ability to switch carriers at any time, US Mobile offers a choice of carriers with a first year price of $199 including all taxes and fees. That works out to less than $17 a month for the first year.
Some of you may be thinking, "Yeah. But these deals only last for a year while the new MVNO plan has no time limit." Your assumption, of course, is that the new carrier will still be around a year from now. There’s simply no way to judge that in September, 2026 when the MVNO already is expressing reservations on Reddit about being in the MVNO business. More importantly, it ignores the real beauty of eSIMs which provide the flexibility to shop around when next September rolls around and install a new eSIM when a better deal rolls around. After all, this is NOT your primary cellphone line. This is a secondary line to supplement your cellular service.
Finally, let me mention one additional trick to add to your cellular toolbox. As we stated, Google Fi affords those using their service the added flexibility of ringing additional phones whenever an incoming call arrives. But you can do this yourself using Google Voice. Simply sign up for a free Google Voice number and forward your secondary cell number to that new Google Voice number. Then configure your Google Voice line to ring as many additional PSTN numbers as desired whenever an incoming call arrives. Enjoy!
Originally published: Wednesday, September 9, 2026
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A couple of contrary observations.
A key purpose of using a burner phone is also the IMEI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity – you ditch the phone, there’s nothing to link it to you. With an eSim, the IMEI is the same, so you can be tracked by that.
But leaving aside the nefarious purposes, one of the problems with eSims is the management. OK, you only mentioned Android, but AIUI with Apple you can only manage eSims with their software, and that makes them a gatekeeper to the networks you can use. May be wrong, it’s a long time since I saw them coming, and decided I’ll stick with a physical SIM from the network of MY choice that I can install myself. There’s a number of phones that support dual physical SIMs – though that does limit your choice and generally cost more.
But it’s easy to criticise from the other side of the pond (UK) where we enjoy pretty good coverage, and generally it’s just not worth the hassle of having two (or more) networks – we’re down to three networks now anyway (plus a bunch of MVNOs.)