T-Mobile to Simplify Phone Bills With Single Unlimited Data Plan and No Additional Fees

[MacRumors]

T-Mobile CEO John Legere today hosted a T-Mobile "Un-carrier Next" event at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he announced that T-Mobile is only going to sell its unlimited T-Mobile One plan going forward.

Existing customers will be able to keep their current plans, but new customers will only be able to purchase the $70 T-Mobile One plan, which gives unlimited data access.

T-Mobile will do away with taxes, surcharges, access fees, and other additional charges, including them all in the T-Mobile One Plan fee, which isn't changing. For a family of four, T-Mobile One will cost $40 per month per person ($70 for the first line, $50 for the second line, and $20 for each additional line). What T-Mobile advertises is what you'll pay.

There's some fine print involved. Autopay is required, and the top 3 percent of data users (upwards of 28GB) may notice reduced speeds until next bill cycle. Video streams at 480p, and tethering is limited to Max 3G speeds. Higher quality video streaming will require T-Mobile One Plus, which costs an additional $15.

T-Mobile is also introducing a "KickBack" program, which will give customers a $10 bill credit for each phone line that uses 2GB of data or less starting on January 22.

According to Legere, "new rules are needed for the mobile internet," which is what has inspired T-Mobile to change its policies. Legere shared the rules T-Mobile will stick to in 2017:

1. Mobile internet shouldn't be sold by bits and bytes.

2. What you see should be what you pay.

3. Only you have the power to change what you pay.

4. You shouldn't have to pay for what you don't use.

All of today's announcements are accompanied by a "Tax Rebate" promotion. Every customer who switches to T-Mobile from another carrier will receive a $150 gift card, with no trade-in required. The gift card applies to every line that's transferred to T-Mobile.

T-Mobile also plans to continue building out its LTE network over the course of 2017, and expects to have LTE available to 320 million at the end of the year, putting it on par with Verizon.

Over the last two years, T-Mobile has aimed to disrupt traditional mobile service with its Un-carrier initiatives. T-Mobile began with uncoupling device costs from service costs in 2013, and then went on to offer several additional incentives to encourage customers to switch to the carrier, including paying early termination fees, offering a JUMP! upgrade plan, unlimited texting and 2G data in 100 countries, free streaming music from Spotify, Rdio, iTunes Radio, and Pandora, one week free trials to test the T-Mobile service, Wi-Fi calling, data rollovers, low-cost plans for businesses, free "Binge-On" video and music streaming, freebies on "T-Mobile Tuesdays," and a $70 unlimited plan.

Article Link: T-Mobile to Simplify Phone Bills With Single Unlimited Data Plan and No Additional Fees

 

[Zaren]

The key here is "family of four". I can't see that $70 a month for a single phone is going to be a big draw for a one-off phone user.

 

[rjohnstone]

Sounds good on paper. Let's see how it does in practice.
They still need to increase rural coverage outside bigger cities.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Mobile internet shouldn't be sold by bits and bytes.

Yes it should! I pay for water by the gallon. I pay for electricity by the kilowatt hour. I pay for gas by the gallon. Why should internet, which is like any other utility, be any different? Why not pay per unit used?

Paying per unit incentivizes users and service providers to be efficient. I will try to connect to WiFi whenever possible, and apps like Spotify can compete on data usage (i.e., imagine Spotify advertising same sound quality as Apple Music but uses 25% less data)

Paying for "unlimited" incentivizes waste from both customers and service providers. Why bother compressing the images - customer won't care.

 

[TechGeek76]

The key here is "family of four". I can't see that $70 a month for a single phone is going to be a big draw for a one-off phone user.

If I could I would jump on unlimited for 70 a month, in a heart beat. A lot of people would.

 

[Retired Cat]

The key here is "family of four". I can't see that $70 a month for a single phone is going to be a big draw for a one-off phone user.

T-Mobile still offers prepaid plans. $40 for unlimited talk/text and 3GB high speed data (128 Kbps after 3GB).

 

[jclo]

The key here is "family of four". I can't see that $70 a month for a single phone is going to be a big draw for a one-off phone user.

There aren't a lot of great single user plans out there. I pay $70/month for 4GB of data at Verizon right now.

 

[2457282]

The key here is "family of four". I can't see that $70 a month for a single phone is going to be a big draw for a one-off phone user.

Please note that this includes unlimited everything. It's not a bad deal.

Sounds good on paper. Let's see how it does in practice.
They still need to increase rural coverage outside bigger cities.

The coverage is the kicker for me. They are getting better, but even though I live in a big city, their coverage is still not as good as ATT or Verizon.

 

[rrm74001]

Yes it should! I pay for water by the gallon. I pay for electricity by the kilowatt hour. I pay for gas by the gallon. Why should internet, which is like any other utility, be any different? Why not pay per unit used?

Because water, electricity and gas are finite resources?

 

[true god]

Sounds like a pretty bad move.

 

[usarioclave]

I did the two lines free, so I have 4 lines with unlimited data/talk/text for like $110. Thanks T-Mo!

 

[carletonguy]

I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. I love it. No real change in call quality or reception, with 1 exception, and that's interstate freeway travel. T-Mobile service drops off on long stretches of highway out in the middle of nowhere, which Verizon managed to maintain at least calling services throughout all of my travels (and data throughout most). I'll take that trade-off for the host of additional benefits and the nearly 40% in savings in my monthly bill. I've completely jumped on board. Love it.

 

[jmh600cbr]

Please come to canada and change everything!

 

[jman240]

Yes it should! I pay for water by the gallon. I pay for electricity by the kilowatt hour. I pay for gas by the gallon. Why should internet, which is like any other utility, be any different? Why not pay per unit used?

Because when you drink water you've consumed a limited resource. Data is not a limited resource. Once capacity is built out there really is no difference on how much you use. If you use 100 TB it doesn't mean there won't be any for anyone else. You're just limited by transfer speeds. Any other measurement is a superficial way to gouge you.

 

[jclo]

Please note that this includes unlimited everything. It's not a bad deal.


The coverage is the kicker for me. They are getting better, but even though I live in a big city, their coverage is still not as good as ATT or Verizon.

This is why I don't currently use T-Mobile. It sounds great, but where I live in the Bay Area and in San Diego, the coverage can't compete with Verizon and AT&T. I tested for about a month with one T-Mobile phone and one AT&T phone -- just wasn't worth it.

 

[TechGeek76]

Yes it should! I pay for water by the gallon. I pay for electricity by the kilowatt hour. I pay for gas by the gallon. Why should internet, which is like any other utility, be any different? Why not pay per unit used?

No, it's not like any other,

Because water, electricity and gas are finite resources?

We don't require broadband to survive, these others, yes.

 

[jdillings]

So now they're pretty much forcing you to buy the unlimited plan even if you don't need it

 

[brendu]

Sounds good on paper. Let's see how it does in practice.
They still need to increase rural coverage outside bigger cities.

They have been. Granted T-Mobile has crappier coverage than VZ or ATT but it has gotteb a lot better than it used to be.

 

[aajeevlin]

What about the whole BS about $25 for the HD video? Is that still a thing? Didn't see any mentioned anywhere.

 

[jlc1978]

I've been on T-Moblie for almost a year now. Overall their coverage has been about as good as my ATT, but most of my use is in major metropolitan areas. Call quality is fine. The free data abroad is great, and the price is nearly 1/2 of what ATT charged. YMMV.

I suspect this new plan will put even more pressure on the other carriers to offer more competitive pricing.

 

[jdillings]

What about the whole BS about $25 for the HD video? Is that still a thing? Didn't see any mentioned anywhere.

It's the same thing Sprint does. They lower the video quality and try to charge you to get the quality you should be getting anyways. Sleazy.

 

[naeS1Sean]

I'm still with AT&T, but I'm very thankful for them.

 

[samcraig]

Does that include unlimited tethering - or is that an add on?

 

[aajeevlin]

I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. I love it. No real change in call quality or reception, with 1 exception, and that's interstate freeway travel. T-Mobile service drops off on long stretches of highway out in the middle of nowhere, which Verizon managed to maintain at least calling services throughout all of my travels (and data throughout most). I'll take that trade-off for the host of additional benefits and the nearly 40% in savings in my monthly bill. I've completely jumped on board. Love it.

Interstate is the one place I'd feel like I would want service the most. I don't want to have to break down and having to wave down some stranger for help.

 

[Larry-K]

The key here is "family of four". I can't see that $70 a month for a single phone is going to be a big draw for a one-off phone user.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure getting married and adopting two kids would be more costly in the long run.