T-Mobile is fixing the two biggest flaws in its unlimited plan, one day after Verizon launched its own
Steve Marcus/Reuters
The carrier announced on Monday that, starting on February 17, its T-Mobile One unlimited plan will stream video at "HD" quality by default. Currently, the One plan caps all video over mobile data at a less-than-HD resolution of 480p unless subscribers pay $15 for a "One Plus" add-on, or $3 for a 24-hour "HD day pass."
Beyond that, the One plan will also include up to 10GB of LTE mobile hotspot data, which allows you to use your phone as a mobile WiFi router. Once that 10GB point is hit, T-Mobile will send that back to 3G speeds. Today, the carrier throttles all hotspot data to slow 2G speeds, and requires customers to pay for a $25 "One Plus International" add-on to push that to unlimited LTE speeds.
The moves address what are arguably the two biggest complaints customers have had with the One plan to date, and bring T-Mobile's offering to near-parity with the major features of Verizon's unlimited plan. Verizon promotes the same HD video streaming and 10GB of LTE hotspot data in its plan today.
The move also allows T-Mobile to more clearly undercut Verizon on price. Its One plan will still start at $70 per month for a single line, while Verizon's "introductory" unlimited plan goes for $10 more. The carrier says it will run a promotion that gives two lines of T-Mobile One for $100 total, too, instead of the usual $120. By comparison, Verizon's unlimited plan offers two lines for $140 per month.
T-Mobile is quick to note that its rates include all taxes and fees, though, which drive up Verizon's costs by a few dollars more. Verizon does offer alternative, data-capped plans for cheaper, however, whereas the One plan is the only offering T-Mobile advertises on its site.
T-Mobile's changes further what has become an increasingly heated competition among mobile carriers over newly revived unlimited plans. T-Mobile's One plan kicked off the trend in earnest, but all four of the major carriers now provide an unlimited offering in some form - though AT&T's is only available to subscribers of its DirecTV and U-Verse services.
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All that said, the updated One plan still features the same caveat as every other so-called "unlimited" plan: It's not technically unlimited. T-Mobile says subscribers who use more than 28GB of data in a given month may see their speeds reduced due to "prioritization" in congested areas. For Verizon, that limit is 22GB. Sprint and AT&T give similar warnings with their unlimited plans, too.
We'll keep an eye out for any other caveats when the new One plan goes live on February 17.
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