The Market Has Changed
Prepaid phone plans in 2026 look nothing like the budget offerings of five years ago. Mint Mobile (T-Mobile owned) now delivers unlimited data at $15-20/month with annual commitment. AT&T Prepaid matches this. Visible runs month-to-month unlimited on Verizon's network for $35 regular, currently promotional at $26 through February 2.
This matters for two reasons: The annual cost difference between enterprise carrier contracts and prepaid alternatives now runs into thousands per employee, and the service gap has largely closed.
What Changed
Three structural shifts explain the compression:
Network consolidation: Every prepaid carrier runs on T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon infrastructure. You're buying the same network access at different price points. US Mobile, Mint, Metro, Visible, and others are capacity resellers, not network operators.
Price guarantees emerging: T-Mobile Prepaid introduced a 5-year price lock on its $60/month Unlimited Plus plan. This is new behavior - carriers competing on rate stability, not just headline pricing.
Commitment/flexibility trade-off: Annual prepaid ($15-20/month) vs month-to-month ($26-35) creates clear optionality pricing. No mystery about what flexibility costs.
The Enterprise Angle
For small teams under 50 employees, startups, or companies with contractor-heavy workforces, the math is straightforward. A 20-person team on $15/month annual prepaid costs $3,600 annually. The same team on typical business plans runs $50-70/month per line - $12,000-16,800 annually.
The caveat: Prepaid unlimited includes deprioritization during network congestion. For roles requiring guaranteed connectivity, this matters. For most office and remote work, it doesn't.
What To Watch
Visible's February promotional pricing ($26 for 26 months) suggests aggressive customer acquisition in early 2026. Worth noting: Major carriers AT&T and Verizon price their own prepaid offerings 40-100% above their network resellers. They're treating prepaid as secondary business.
The question isn't whether prepaid works technically - it's the same networks. The question is whether your procurement process can handle consumer-grade purchasing for business purposes. For many startups and small teams, the answer is yes.