T-Mobile has always been relatively fair with its data plans and how it handles overages or power users: once they hit a certain limit, speeds will be throttled or slowed down until the user’s billing cycle refreshes. However, T-Mobile is looking to change things up and start charging for overages, just like AT&T and Verizon do.
According to AllThingsD:
“Customers will incur overages of $0.10 per MB when they exceed 200MB of data ($10 for 100MB) up to a maximum monthly payment of $40 with both Value and Classic plans for data including the 200MB add-on fee,” T-Mobile said in a statement. The company typically charges between $5 to $10 for its basic data plan, which includes just 200MB of monthly data usage.
The idea of paying $10 for 100MB seems completely absurd, so this is clearly a move to get consumers who really want to use more data to bump up to higher-priced data plans. Not that it’s a terrible thing, especially for those who might find themselves using a lot more data than they originally anticipated. And for those who stick with the low-end plans, they won’t be hit with surprises:
T-Mobile said it will start notifying customers when they reach 90 percent of that level, and then again when they hit the 200MB limit, offering them the option to move to a higher-end data plan. The changes are effective Aug. 14, T-Mobile said.
This might upset a few customers, especially since many are already anxious about a potential merger with AT&T. Many customers don’t know what will happen with their phones, plans, service and just about everything else that they’ve come to rely on. But there is little they can do other than switching carriers.
Are you a power user on the T-Mobile network? Would it be simpler just to upgrade to an unlimited data plan, especially with HSPA+ speeds increasing every year?
[Via: AllThingsD]