The latest salvo in the heated price wars of the mobile wireless industry comes from T-Mobile, which begins offering unlimited 4G LTE data to families while its rivals move away from everything unlimited.
The newest promo from T-Mobile cuts down the rate of its Simple Choice family plan by nearly 30 percent and ups the offering by providing unlimited data, calls and text for $100 for up two persons, with additional lines for up to 10 people for $40 each line. That is $50 for the first two persons and $40 for the next eight. The regular plan also charges $100 for family plans but only with a shared 10GB of data between 10 lines maximum.
For customers who don't think they can get the full value for their money in the unlimited plan, T-Mobile is re-rolling out an older promo that provides 2.5GB of 4G LTE for up to four lines for $100 each month.
"Imagine getting that nasty 'surprise' every month when you check your monthly wireless plan to find confusing additional data charges on your bill. In fact, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon have 24 different family and promotional rate plans," says T-Mobile in a statement sent to Tech Times. "Now, T-Mobile helps families save their hard-earned money, with a simple plan for everyone - and unlimited 4G LTE data for everyone!"
While T-Mobile criticizes other mobile carriers for "flooding the airwaves with a mishmash of confusing shared data promotions," the fourth biggest mobile carrier in the United States says it offers a simple solution for families who want better value for their money. Ironically, this is T-Mobile's seventh limited-time offer, so the carrier, which actually brands itself the Un-carrier, isn't actually offering a single, simple solution to the confusion.
"People are saying loud and clear that they hate the confusion and complexity of the carriers' shared data plans, and they should," says T-Mobile firebrand CEO John Legere.
T-Mobile says 81 percent of customers polled said they considered the multiple offers by the wireless industry "very confusing" and "somewhat confusing." The Un-carrier also says three-fourths of all customers "hate" policing their family's data usage, with more than 40 percent saying they worry about nasty overage fees.
Notwithstanding its claims of simplifying the choices, T-Mobile is actually adding to the din with its seventh promo, which is actually a response to Sprint's $100 family plan that splits 20GB of data and the $50 unlimited everything personal plans for all phones. Customers who want to get an iPhone can avail of the personal plan for $60. Still, Legere says its new promo is not a reaction to anything but "a preface to other things we're going to do."
"We purposely didn't do this in the middle of all of them hitting each other with clubs," he says.
