T-Mobile will offer no-contract customers unlimited 4G data, text and voice minutes starting Wednesday, for $70 a month.
This is true unlimited data, as long as you don't tether your phone to a computer, you can stream all the Netflix video you want over your phone and it won't ever cost you more. The plan's been available since summer for customers with monthly plans; now it's for people who are prepay.
The announcement by the nation's fourth-largest carrier at CES in Las Vegas Tuesday will make it even more competitive with Sprint, the third-largest U.S. carrier, as well as Verizon Wireless and AT&T, with the latter two requiring monthly data plans for customers.
T-Mobile, which is in the process of merging with MetroPCS Communications, recently announced it will carry the iPhone in 2013, although not date was specified. It has been the last of the four major carriers to get the coveted Apple phone.
"As the 'uncarrier,' we’re doing the unthinkable," said John Legere, T-Mobile USA president and CEO in a statement Tuesday. "We’re directly confronting the frustrations of American consumers fed up with the cost, complexity and congested networks of our competitors."
Sprint plans to launch a similar no-contract plan for $70-a-month for unlimited voice, text and data service, called Sprint As You Go, on Jan. 25, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. "This is not a prepaid plan, as customers will receive a bill and pay in arrears," she told NBC News.
T-Mobile introduced an Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data plan last September, which has become "by far the most popular plan choice among T-Mobile customers," the company said, with 46 percent of new customers choosing that plan in December alone.
For more information regarding T-Mobile’s lineup of no-annual-contract smartphones, visit http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/.
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