Helium Mobile Was Acquired. Here's What That Means for Your Next Phone Plan
Noble Mobile bought Helium Mobile in 2026. What changed, what happened to the free plan, and which MVNOs are worth comparing.
If you searched "is Helium Mobile still around," you are not imagining things. Helium Mobile got sold in 2026, the free plan is gone, and the name on your account is not the company running it anymore.
Service continues. But a carrier in the middle of a handoff is a confusing thing to shop for. Here is what actually happened, with dates, and which alternatives hold up when you check them.
What actually happened
Nova Labs, the company behind the Helium Network, sold its consumer carrier business on June 2, 2026. The buyer was Noble Mobile, founded in 2025 by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Fortune reported that terms were not disclosed and that Yang said pricing and service would not change for the foreseeable future.
Read that first sentence again, because one word in it matters. Nova Labs sold the carrier, not the network.
Helium Mobile's own announcement of the Noble deal spells this out. The Helium Network keeps running. The Helium team moved on to building a connectivity platform other carriers can use. If you host a hotspot, that side of things did not get sold.
A September 16, 2026 legal announcement confirmed the deal closed and that Noble Mobile runs those accounts now. It keeps the Helium Mobile name under a limited trademark license. That is the part worth noticing. A limited license is not a permanent one.
The free plan is gone, and it went in two steps
Helium Mobile made its name on a free tier called Zero. Limited talk, text, and data, no monthly cost. That is why most people signed up.
It ended in two stages, not one.
On January 27, 2026, Helium stopped absorbing the taxes and fees on the free plan and passed those charges to customers. The older $5 and $20 unlimited plans were discontinued the same day.
The plan went away for good on June 11, 2026. Helium Mobile's own help center confirms the retirement date and says anyone still on Zero was moved to the paid Air plan automatically.
So if you stopped paying attention in 2025 and assume you still have a free line, check your billing. You do not.
What Helium Mobile costs now
Two plans, both on T-Mobile's network plus the Helium hotspot layer.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Air | $15/month plus taxes and fees | 10GB high-speed data, unlimited talk and text, 5GB hotspot |
| Infinity | $30/month plus taxes and fees | 36GB high-speed data, then throttled unlimited, unlimited talk and text |
The hotspot layer is the part that sounds better than it usually performs. It helps in dense areas where people actually installed the hardware. Outside a city, it thins out fast, and T-Mobile's own coverage is what you are really buying. Check T-Mobile's map for your address before you decide anything.
Other MVNOs worth comparing
Three of these hold up when you check them. One name that gets mentioned in these roundups does not, and it is worth saying why.
Noble Mobile. The company that now owns your Helium account. One plan at $50 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data on T-Mobile. It pays cash back to customers who use under 20GB a month, which is an unusual pitch and a real one. Fortune covered the pricing in the same article linked above.
Tello. Build your own plan on T-Mobile's network. Pick your data, talk, and text separately. It starts at $5 a month for a very light line and runs to $25 for unlimited. If your usage is small and predictable, this is usually the cheapest honest answer.
US Mobile. Sells access to three nationwide networks it calls Warp, Dark Star, and Light Speed, and lets you switch between them. US Mobile does not publicly name the carrier behind each one, though they are widely reported to be Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Unlimited plans start around $25. That switching ability matters if one carrier is weak at your address and another is fine.
Pollen Mobile is the one to skip. It shows up in a lot of MVNO lists because of its crypto hotspot model. As of September 2026 its website does not load, and there is no publicly confirmed consumer pricing. We are not going to point you at a carrier we cannot verify is selling service.
Carrier comparison
| Carrier | Network | Model | Starting price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helium Mobile (Noble-owned) | T-Mobile plus Helium hotspots | MVNO with a bonus coverage layer | Air $15/mo, Infinity $30/mo | City users near active hotspots |
| Noble Mobile | T-Mobile | MVNO paying cash back under 20GB | $50/mo unlimited | Light data users who want rewards |
| Tello | T-Mobile | Build your own plan | $5/mo to $25/mo | Light users who want to set their own data |
| US Mobile | Three networks, switchable | Multi-network MVNO | About $25/mo unlimited | Anyone who needs a specific network's coverage |
| PHYX (Lyca Mobile) | Lyca Mobile | Prepaid, no contract | $20 at the counter | Walk-in customers who want it handled in person |
If you just want a plan that works
Crypto rewards and carrier handoffs are a hassle a lot of people did not sign up for. Plenty of our customers want a phone that turns on and a plan that does not change names every few months.
That is why we carry Lyca Mobile prepaid plans at the counter. Plans start at $20. SIM or eSIM setup runs $10 more if you need it. No contract, no app to check, no token to track.
The honest tradeoff: Tello beats us on price for a very light line, and US Mobile beats us on network flexibility. What we give you is somebody who puts the SIM in, makes sure it works before you leave, and is still here next month if it does not.
FAQs
> Q: Is my Helium Mobile service still working?
>
> A: Yes. Noble Mobile has been running Helium Mobile accounts since June 2026 under the same name and the same plans. Nothing on your end needs to change right now. The name is licensed rather than owned, so it could change eventually, but no timeline has been announced for folding those accounts into Noble's own plans.
> Q: I thought I had the free Helium plan. What happened to it?
>
> A: The Zero plan was retired on June 11, 2026, and everyone still on it moved to the paid Air plan at $15 a month. Taxes and fees started hitting the free plan back in January 2026. If you have not looked at your bill since 2025, look now, because you are almost certainly being charged.
> Q: What is the difference between an MVNO and a regular carrier?
>
> A: An MVNO buys network access wholesale from a carrier like T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon instead of building its own towers. That is how Helium Mobile, Tello, and Lyca Mobile keep prices down. The coverage is the big carrier's. What changes is the price, the customer service, and how long the company sticks around.
Not sure which plan fits your phone?
Bring the phone to the Springfield shop and we will check what it is compatible with before you commit to anything. [Text PHYX at 413-234-4313](sms:+14132344313) or email PHYX at repairs@phyx.me if you want to sort it out first.