“Video is a huge driver of data”, Entner said.
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T-Mobile has also tried to make its plans more appealing by letting many customers stream video from dozens of services including Netflix, ESPN and HBO without eating up data.
And so with T-Mobile: America’s third-largest wireless carrier announced on Thursday that in about a month, it will start phasing out all of its data plans in favor of one, unlimited-data offering.
For T-Mobile One customers, the company’s Binge On program will effectively become obsolete. Customers who use more than 26 gigabytes in a given month may have their speeds slowed if there is network congestion.
T-Mobile One will be available to postpaid customers as of September 6, with a prepaid option to be available later.
T-Mobile’s unlimited offer is $70 a month for one line, $120 for two and an additional $20 for any further lines. Those who want HD-quality video pay an extra $25 a month. Currently, Verizon doesn’t even offer an unlimited LTE data plan.
But then came iPhones and other big-screen smartphones, shaking up the calculus.
This trend reverses moves begun several years ago, when the wireless companies complained that customers’ increasing data use was weighing on their networks.
“I declare that the era of the data plan is over”, says CEO John Legere.
Specifically, he’s talking about T-Mobile. T-Mobile was the first company to test the waters in offering lower-quality video at a reduced price. For example, on T-Mobile, your video streams will be limited to 480p, and if you tether your phone to your computer, you’ll be limited to 2G speeds. While earlier users had to pay $100 to get 15GB bucket data plus the device access charge, now users can enjoy 16GB data at $90. Existing plans will still be offered and then slowly phased out starting September 6, according to Chief Executive Officer John Legere.
Turns out, those are two different questions with somewhat contradicting answers.
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T-Mobile surpassed Sprint Corp.as the third-largest US wireless carrier a year ago by reducing rates for family plans, removing extra charges for exceeding data plans and offering rolling credit for unused data and popular promotions like free streaming of music and video. “We are completely destroying the whole concept of a data plan; it’s gone”.
