This time around, T-Mobile is turning up the heat on other carriers by upping the amount of data offered through its Simple Starter plan. On Monday, T-Mobile said customers will get 2GB of LTE data for $45 a month. That's a $5 hike from the Simple Starter plan T-Mobile unveiled in April, but it's also four times the 500MB of data T-Mobile used to give you.
The selling point here is data--smartphone customers are using more of it, and giving subscribers a roomier cap makes T-Mobile's entry-level offering more attractive than before. And T-Mobile is hyping the fact that its plan doesn't charge a fee if you go over that 2GB cap. "The old guard telecoms punish people for using more data on their networks with crazy overage charges and fees," John Legere, T-Mobile's president and CEO, said in a statement announcing the revised plan. (Under Simple Starter, T-Mobile simply turns off data once you've hit your ceiling; the company offers on-demand data passes if you end up needing more data.)
The revised Simple Starter plan launches on next Wednesday, September 3. T-Mobile called the $5 extra a month for additional data a "limited-time" offer. It's also optional--you can keep paying $40 for 500MB if you don't want to spend more.
Last month, T-Mobile announced a promotional offer for its family plan and dangled a year of free, unlimited LTE data last week as an incentive to get its customers to convince family and friends to switch to T-Mobile. Rival Sprint has been aggressive as well, after its long-rumored purchase of T-Mobile fell through: Sprint announced a $60-per-month unlimited plan and a new Family Share Plan in the last week. Verizon has also altered its offerings, recently with a $60-a-month single-line plan with 2GB of data.