T-Mobile One plan simplified further, all additional charges now under single fee

AppleInsider

T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced on Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show that the company has executed its plan to only offer T-Mobile One going forward, is keeping the cost of the plan the same, and is eliminating all extra line-item charges in the program.

The T-Mobile One Plan fee remains unchanged. Users still pay $70 for the first line, $50 for a second line, and $20 per additional line up to 10 lines of service. Starting in January, all of the miscellaneous line-item fees customarily seen on a mobile bill are being absorbed into the plan by the company.

Further enticing people to switch over, T-Mobile will also receive a $150 gift card for every line transferred to T-Mobile, with no trade-in required to get the benefit.

Other traditional T-Mobile benefits are included, like data roaming in Mexico and Canada, "carrier freedom" programs where T-Mobile helps cover the cost of switching data plans, and the T-Mobile Tuesday customer bonus program.

Additionally, to lessen the monthly bill further, every line on the T-Mobile One plan that does not exceed 2GB of data consumed will see a $10 credit.

T-Mobile launched the One plan in September, with unlimited 4G data, calling, and text messaging. Tablets can also be added to the plan, for $20 per month. Customers who opt out of auto-pay services see a $5 per line fee assessed.

Customers using more than 26GB of high-speed data per month may still see data traffic prioritized to 3G or 2G speeds, at specific times and places that the network sees high network demand. There is no cap to induce full-time throttling implementation.

Every video service under the aegis of "Binge On" is streamed at standard definition. Higher definition video is available, but at a $15 per line cost. Day passes are available for a single device for $3.

Customers are allowed to remain on an older, now discontinued, plan.

wood1208

I used to be on t-mobile customer when they had 4-lines for $100 unlimited text/talk and data(reduced speed after 2.5GB). Those still on T-mobile can comment if this news/deal is as good as AT&T and Verizon. I moved to AT&T because ATT offered shared Data plan(15GB for 10 lines) and than they doubled Data for free to 30GB.

edited January 2017

tokyojimu

This sounds like a huge price increase for anyone that doesn't use gobs of data. Soneone like myself that uses 2 GB or less of data per month is better off at AT&T (I pay $48) than paying $60/$70 to T-Mobile. (I say "$60/$70" because I sometimes go over 2 GB, but it is always covered by rollover data from the previous month. On T-Mobile, I would pay $70 any month I go over 2 GB.)

loquitur

Being AT&T for the nonce, the 30GB shared data is $130 for the main line, plus $15 per line, so $190 / per month for 4.
The four of us got sick of pesky overage fees, so now the "no overage" version is $135, plus $20 per line.  $160 per month
via T-Mobile seems great with the gift card poaching, but before considering jumping, how is T-Mobile reception in San Francisco?

mrboba1

I'm with TMO and I pay 120 for 4 lines and $20 for a 5th. It used to be the 10GB/line plan but now it says unlimited. So the above plan would be $40 more per month.

We used 32GB of data* last month.

* - not including "free" streaming data. I can't see it any more, but I would guess that adds another 8, mostly from a heavy TV watcher, no not the kids - my mother-in-law!!

edited January 2017

schlack

tokyojimu said:

This sounds like a huge price increase for anyone that doesn't use gobs of data. Soneone like myself that uses 2 GB or less of data per month is better off at AT&T (I pay $48) than paying $60/$70 to T-Mobile. (I say "$60/$70" because I sometimes go over 2 GB, but it is always covered by rollover data from the previous month. On T-Mobile, I would pay $70 any month I go over 2 GB.)

Seems like this is definitely targeting families where a 4 lines for $160 (all fees included!!) seems like a great deal. Bring it down to $120 if you don't use a lot of data. Does this include using your phone as a hotspot? I do this a lot via my AT&T plan to surf on my iPad and laptop when I'm out and wifi is slow or unavailable or unprotected or I don't want my activity logged by the wifi router owner.

dementuschikan

tokyojimu said:

This sounds like a huge price increase for anyone that doesn't use gobs of data. Soneone like myself that uses 2 GB or less of data per month is better off at AT&T (I pay $48) than paying $60/$70 to T-Mobile. (I say "$60/$70" because I sometimes go over 2 GB, but it is always covered by rollover data from the previous month. On T-Mobile, I would pay $70 any month I go over 2 GB.)

It isn't. I'm on T-Mobile now. I pay a bit over $120 a month now for 2 lines and an iPad. If I go to this plan, it will be 2 line for $120 and I'll get rid of the iPad plan (I barely use it and can just tether it if I need). Then, they have the kickback that if you don't use over 2GBs a month, you get a $10 rebate. Because of T-Mobile's free bandwidth for so many services, I am currently at .7GB and my wife is at 1.1GB and we pay next week. We would likely see a $20 rebate and only pay $100. Don't forget the taxes and fees are included in that $120. There are other things, more subjective, that I like about T-Mobile, so I'm good with $50 each for my wife and I. Other people's bandwidth usage and subjective needs, of course, will vary. I don't think it is out of line with other providers at all, though.

edited January 2017

williamh

schlack said:

tokyojimu said:

This sounds like a huge price increase for anyone that doesn't use gobs of data. Soneone like myself that uses 2 GB or less of data per month is better off at AT&T (I pay $48) than paying $60/$70 to T-Mobile. (I say "$60/$70" because I sometimes go over 2 GB, but it is always covered by rollover data from the previous month. On T-Mobile, I would pay $70 any month I go over 2 GB.)

Seems like this is definitely targeting families where a 4 lines for $160 (all fees included!!) seems like a great deal. Bring it down to $120 if you don't use a lot of data. Does this include using your phone as a hotspot? I do this a lot via my AT&T plan to surf on my iPad and laptop when I'm out and wifi is slow or unavailable or unprotected or I don't want my activity logged by the wifi router owner.

Yes, it includes using your phone as a hotspot. Also includes free texting and data in many countries.  I used it all over Japan last summer. 

teaearlegreyhot

I tried Tmobile, under the previous plan, and gave it up largely because they consider 3G to be the same as 4GLTE, under the aegis of "high speed".  In reality, it is not. I do not watch a lot of streaming video, but when I do, I turn my cellular data down to 3G speed (LTE not enabled). This means on Verizon that I am streaming at 3G. But on Tmo, it meant I was still charged at "high speed" rates for the data. 

Why did this matter?  Because as I click thru video streams, it buffers much faster than I can view, and that data is then wasted when I surf over to the next stream. The net result is that with Verizon I consume a few hundred megabytes of data, wheras with Tmobile I consume gigabytes for the same experience.  So my data allocation was used up in a few days under Tmobile, whereas it lasted all month on Verizon. 

Again, this only mattered because Tmobile lyingly refers to 3G as equal to LTE speeds, and doesn't discriminate between them for billing purposes.

The new plan offers lots of data, so this isn't such an issue. However, the $70 month is a lot more expensive than the $50 I was paying previously.  Add to this the more limited range of coverage, and Verizon still ended up being the better option for me.

tonyi

Cricket, which uses AT&T's network, is $70 for 2 lines, $90 for 3 lines, $100 for 4 lines, And a 5th line would be free. These are all-in prices (including taxes, fees, etc.). So my credit card shows $90 / month for a total of 3 lines. Each line gets 2.5GB of data, with unlimited voice and texting. (Mobile HotSpot not covered.) Apparently, the Cricket speeds are lower than what one gets on "native" AT&T, even though they are labeled "4G." I have to say, though, that I have not noticed any speed problems or bottlenecks. It's a good deal if you are a frugal (or, if you prefer, cheap) family and have reasonable data demands.

6502

TonyI said:

Cricket, which uses AT&T's network, is $70 for 2 lines, $90 for 3 lines, $100 for 4 lines, And a 5th line would be free. These are all-in prices (including taxes, fees, etc.). So my credit card shows $90 / month for a total of 3 lines. Each line gets 2.5GB of data, with unlimited voice and texting. (Mobile HotSpot not covered.) Apparently, the Cricket speeds are lower than what one gets on "native" AT&T, even though they are labeled "4G." I have to say, though, that I have not noticed any speed problems or bottlenecks. It's a good deal if you are a frugal (or, if you prefer, cheap) family and have reasonable data demands.

Agreed. I've been with Cricket for a few years now and have no complaints. I think it is one of the cheapest out there and never had any issues. 2.5 GB/mo is just fine for us (rarely go over 2). Used to be with Net10 and it was a disaster (no visual voicemail, need to try various APN settings to get SMS/MMS to work, horrendous customer service, etc...).

jason98

williamh said:

schlack said:

tokyojimu said:

This sounds like a huge price increase for anyone that doesn't use gobs of data. Soneone like myself that uses 2 GB or less of data per month is better off at AT&T (I pay $48) than paying $60/$70 to T-Mobile. (I say "$60/$70" because I sometimes go over 2 GB, but it is always covered by rollover data from the previous month. On T-Mobile, I would pay $70 any month I go over 2 GB.)

Seems like this is definitely targeting families where a 4 lines for $160 (all fees included!!) seems like a great deal. Bring it down to $120 if you don't use a lot of data. Does this include using your phone as a hotspot? I do this a lot via my AT&T plan to surf on my iPad and laptop when I'm out and wifi is slow or unavailable or unprotected or I don't want my activity logged by the wifi router owner.

Yes, it includes using your phone as a hotspot. Also includes free texting and data in many countries.  I used it all over Japan last summer. 

Only at 3g speed which sucks imo. I stay with the old family plan because of this.

mrboba1

I'm with TMO and I pay 120 for 4 lines and $20 for a 5th. It used to be the 10GB/line plan but now it says unlimited. So the above plan would be $40 more per month.

Update: I see all the extra regulatory fees on my account would be included as well - they add up to about $23 (not including phone sales tax payments) so this plan is about $17 more than my current plan.

edited January 2017

nht

mrboba1 said:

I'm with TMO and I pay 120 for 4 lines and $20 for a 5th. It used to be the 10GB/line plan but now it says unlimited. So the above plan would be $40 more per month.

Update: I see all the extra regulatory fees on my account would be included as well - they add up to about $23 (not including phone sales tax payments) so this plan is about $17 more than my current plan.

That's kinda the nice thing about this plan.  Mentally I think my bill from AT&T is X when it's really Y because of taxes, fees, yada yada yada.  Seriously considering TMO given $150x4 and results in a lower bill offsets the less smaller network footprint.

mrboba1

nht said:

mrboba1 said:

I'm with TMO and I pay 120 for 4 lines and $20 for a 5th. It used to be the 10GB/line plan but now it says unlimited. So the above plan would be $40 more per month.

Update: I see all the extra regulatory fees on my account would be included as well - they add up to about $23 (not including phone sales tax payments) so this plan is about $17 more than my current plan.

That's kinda the nice thing about this plan.  Mentally I think my bill from AT&T is X when it's really Y because of taxes, fees, yada yada yada.  Seriously considering TMO given $150x4 and results in a lower bill offsets the less smaller network footprint.

I hate those line fees ($20 each) that both AT&T and VZ throw on each phone. Completely ridiculous and is what is keeping me away from the better coverage from both of them. Well, that and the fact that each person has their own data allotment with TMO.

I could also keep my data under 2GB/month as I'm usually right around that so I could cut another $10. No one else is close to 2.

sandor

wood1208 said:

I used to be on t-mobile customer when they had 4-lines for $100 unlimited text/talk and data(reduced speed after 2.5GB). Those still on T-mobile can comment if this news/deal is as good as AT&T and Verizon. I moved to AT&T because ATT offered shared Data plan(15GB for 10 lines) and than they doubled Data for free to 30GB.

I switched from ATT to TMobile when they had the "Test Drive" they shipped me an iPhone, i tested it for a week, i shipped it back.
TMobile was better than ATT in my house, but worse at work. But TMobile had their cell network over WiFi up & running, so it was a no brainer.

TMobile, 4 lines 2 GB/month $129.14 all in - we were paying more than that for 2 lines on ATT.

We will eventually upgrade to the all-in plan, but at this point we would still be paying more. Due to wifi being everywhere we are, and having very short commutes, the highest data usage i have ever seen on any of the lines was 1.5 GB - typically around 500 MB per line, per month.