T-Mobile ONE Eliminates Data Plans And Doubles Down On Unlimited Data For All

Verizon Wireless and AT&T may have revamped their data plans during the past month and dropped overage fees, but that’s small potatoes to third-place wireless carrier T-Mobile. The boys and gals in magenta killed overage fees long ago, and today CEO John Legere is looking to stab a stake through the heart of the two companies that he often vilifies.

Legere today unveiled T-Mobile ONE, which gives customers unlimited everything for one low monthly price — unlimited data, talk, text, and standard definition video are included. “Best of all, our customers will never have to track, monitor or police their data usage ever again,” explains T-Mobile. “They’ll never even have to say ‘data’ again.”

Customers will pay $70 for a single line and tack on another $50 for a second line. For a family of four, the first two lines are $70 and $50 respectively, while the third and fourth lines are added for $20 each, bringing the total monthly outlay to $160 (average of $40 per line).

Unfortunately, unlimited doesn’t truly mean “unlimited” at T-Mobile. Customers who use more than 26GB of data during a billing cycle will be subject to throttling, “but only at specific times and places that may experience high network demand or congestion.” We’re assuming that this 26GB restriction applies per line instead of per account, as the latter could lead to some pretty intense arguments with a large family. And to make matters worse, tethering is limited to 2G speeds unless you pay a $15 monthly add-on fee per 5GB.

“Only T-Mobile’s network can handle something as huge as destroying data limits,” said Legere. “Dumb and Dumber can’t do this. They’ve been running away from unlimited data for years now, because they built their networks for phone calls, not for how people use smartphones today. I hope AT&T and Verizon try to follow us. In fact, I challenge them to try.

“The era of the data plan is over. After Un-carrier 12, the wireless industry will never be the same again.”

We should note that if you want to add HD video streaming to your account (if 480p just won’t cut it for you over a 4G LTE connection) you’ll have to pony up another $25 per line.