海角大神

You鈥檝e probably heard of the 鈥淏ig Four鈥� cell phone carriers: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. But increasingly, they鈥檙e not the only players in town.

There are dozens of smaller, often prepaid, carriers 鈥� called mobile virtual network operators 鈥� that聽offer alternatives. And that鈥檚 good news for consumers, because聽MVNOs聽can provide cheaper, more flexible mobile plans than the Big Four.

An MVNO primer

MVNOs are small carriers that lease cellular coverage and data bandwidth from 鈥� or share it with 鈥� a member of the Big Four, then resell it to customers.聽Hence the 鈥渧irtual network鈥� part of the name: MVNOs don鈥檛 own any actual hardware. The Big Four own and operate it.

Sometimes these MVNOs are wholly owned by the bigger carriers; for example,聽听辞飞苍蝉听聽and allows it to operate on the AT&T network. Other聽MVNOs are聽independent entities, like聽聽or Consumer Cellular, that lease space on someone else鈥檚 network.

You鈥檒l see聽鈥榮 name pop up in a lot of these agreements, as it has been relatively friendly to MVNOs compared to other big carriers. It聽has a history of selling data at wholesale rates 鈥斅�, when MVNOs were newly resurgent 鈥� and, thanks to its聽weak market position relative to AT&T and聽, it has聽an interest in cultivating any competitive advantage it can.

Some caveats

Since they鈥檙e taking up some of the bigger networks鈥� finite bandwidth, MVNO users sometimes聽receive聽lesser priority than name-brand customers. For example, Cricket Wireless LTE data speeds are capped at 8Mbps, whereas聽AT&T customers can enjoy LTE data speeds of more than聽20Mbps, depending on the location.

This isn鈥檛 always the case,聽but double-check before you sign up聽so you know exactly the service you鈥檒l receive. And聽make sure the phone selection is to your liking, as some MVNOs offer聽limited choices.

Is an聽MVNO right for you?

MVNOs may have some restrictions, but they also come with聽greater聽flexibility and often cheaper聽costs. Some, such as聽Republic Wireless and Google鈥檚 Project Fi, are pioneering an attractively simple pricing option in which聽customers essentially pay for data as they go at one flat rate. Plus, most MVNOs operate with no-contract prepaid billing,聽.

If saving money is a higher priority for you than having the highest data speeds, or if you prefer not to sign a long-term contract, MVNOs聽are worth checking out.

List of major MVNOs

Here鈥檚 a list of some of the larger MVNOs, their owners聽when聽applicable, their network coverage partners, and some information to help you pick the best one for you.聽聽is an odd one here as it operates its own network 鈥� the fifth-largest聽鈥斅燽ut partners with a semi-obscure broadband company called King Street Wireless for its LTE聽coverage.

Stephen Layton聽is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:聽slayton@nerdwallet.com.

This article first appeared at .