T-Mobile will soon start offering limits on smartphone data customers, but it won’t get rid of unlimited.
The carrier has just introduced what it is calling a series of “Value” plans, which will be offered alongside – not instead of – its existing unlimited data subscription offers.
And here’s another good deal – no overage charges. While other carriers with capped limits hope you’ll go over your limit so you can get nickel-and-dimed for every additional gigabyte of data you use, T-Mobile will just slow down your online connection to a 2G connection until the beginning of your next billing cycle.
This comes after Verizon recently nixed all of its unlimited mobile data plans, now charging users as much as $100 per month to get the same kind of service they used to be able to get for $30.
AT&T also got rid of its limitless data offering a while back. Both carriers will continue to honor unlimited plans that subscribers had prior to the change, but new customers or anyone wanting to change their plan will have to abide by a specific limit.
AT&T and Verizon like to point out that, as a result of their new plan structuring, many users will end up spending less money – that is, customers who were paying $30 for unlimited data but were only downloading around 1 GB per month can now sign up for the lowest-tier data plan for around $20.
But we all know they really hope those budget-conscious consumers will one day user more data than usual and then smack them with overage fees.
T-Mobile’s plan is a refreshing change, and potentially a way for the company to get back some of its mojo. With AT&T and Verizon grabbing the iPhone and Sprint gaining a lot of attention as the first 4G carrier, offering the first 3D phone, etc, T-Mobile has kind of been left in the dust.
But appealing to consumers’ wallets is always a good way to gain attention, and this offer can certainly do that.
