T-Mobile’s new data plans
Just when you thought they couldn’t get any cheaper….T-Mobile is set to completely revamp their data plan lineup with a new pricing scheme that is sure to make subscribers swoon. Beginning tomorrow, September 12th, the big Pink will be dropping updates to their BlackBerry and Total Internet plan offerings. The Total Internet add-on, which includes unlimited web browsing and data service for devices such Wing and Dash, will drop from $29.99 to $19.99. Sweet! The BIS add-on will remain at $19.99 for customers in need of the full BlackBerry email/web browsing experience. For anyone simply looking for an email solution, however, things are about to get very interesting. T-Mobile is launching a new BlackBerry add-on plan that will give customers access to any BIS-accessible email accounts for $9.99 a month. All web browsing and secondary data access will be blocked, but for a 10-spot, it’s hard to argue with the lack of frills. Not bad at all. The stand alone Total Internet plan will see a $10 drop from $49.99 to $39.99. The bad news (you knew there had to be something) is that the standalone BIS option, as well as the standalone Total Internet Plan, will go up to $39.99 from $29.99. Curiously, this makes the BIS and BES standalone packages identical in price. We’re not sure if T-Mobile HotSpot Wi-Fi access will still be part of the Total Internet package, but we’ve seen nothing to indicate that it won’t still available to subscribers. These new plans will be available via retail channels tomorrow and on T-Mobile.com by the 16th of September. All you FlexPay customers can expect to see changes by the 16th.
Thanks, tmophonehome!
On Sep 11, 2007 @ 11:58 am, K Said:
Nice!
Make sense…if the non BB users paid $29.99 for data, and the argument was that they get Hotspot access included in that price, then that logic would have been a little hard to defend for T-Mo when the Curve came out and included WiFi in the $19.99 BIS plan.
So instead of making BIS an extra $10, they’ve addressed a BIG complaint of non BB users that the hotspots weren’t worth an extra ten bucks.
…and who can complain about the $10 BIS email plan. VZ and T beware. Push email is the new battlefront…and T-Mo is going to corner the yound adult market in a hurry at those prices.
…and the small business, or young pro market…those who couldn’t see sprinting $20 for their each of their 5 employees…or those who are not high enough up the corporate ladder to have their employer pay for BB service.
….and as for the stand alone option going up. It’s not really a problem. Even at the increased price, it’s the lowest (or same) price as other carriers. …not to mention, you can add a cheap voice plan and get the blackberry add on the lower $19.99 price for the same price as the stand alone price…so why wouldn’t you? …I think it’s just T-Mo’s way to encourage people to get multiple services, and that should increase ARPU.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 12:08 pm, test5477 Said:
they are great when it comes to pricing, very good to see.
They have some hurdles to overcome though. 3G, they will be the last major carrier to begin rolling it out and they will also have the smallest 3G coverage. Since they chose not to use the same frequency as ATT then no 3G option when your out of the Tmo areas.
That being said they are great with pricing and they have a good rep. when it comes to customer service too. Good to see the Germans know how to keep the pricing down.
Weise Zu gehen
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 12:21 pm, Rey Said:
Ok I still don’t quite understand ok so when I get the cuvre imma get a plan 49.99 and then I want wifi full web and email how much more would it be ? Can anyone help
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 12:24 pm, backbeat Said:
Stand-alone BIS increase not a big deal? If Verizon or AT&T were to increase their data plan by the same 33%, you’d have rioting in the streets. It’s not the dollars, as anyone with any economic sense realizes, it’s the ratio. That unilateral change in service terms by TMO is going to cost them. No ETF’s for you!
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 12:27 pm, chris Said:
The only thing that appeals to me is the 10 buck plan. Not bad at all now I know this means At&t is going to be raising there plans because they never do anything right!
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 12:28 pm, Joshua Karp Said:
backbeat: I hear where you’re coming from, but we have no reason to believe that current stand-alone BIS/Total Internet subscribers will see any increase. The new pricing scheme should only apply to new activations, with current plans falling under the Grandfather clause. As such, this probably won’t be grounds for an ETF free contract termination.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:03 pm, Lance Said:
REY– your plan will cost 49.99 plus 19.99 for internet and email. Wi-fi is free where ever wi-fi is available. text messaging is seperate, so if you want to be able to text, you’ll have to add on a text messaging package.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:16 pm, TrueDis Said:
When in god’s name are they going to announce their 3G network!?!?
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:20 pm, Chris Richey Said:
Cheaper plans, great! Too bad they don’t have coverage in 80% of the US.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:24 pm, Chad D Said:
I think there is a typo…
$10 - BIS email only
$20 - BIS email + web/teather
$20 - Non-BB data + email
$40 - BES? the article says BIS, but I think you meant BES.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:26 pm, Kara Estes Said:
Hotspot service will still be included in the T-Mobile Total Internet plans for 19.99. The old data plans will be grandfathered and only available to those who have the plan, and will not result in a breach of contract because the data services are “Features” and not the actual cell service to the phone. No ETF waiver for this one.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:33 pm, Scott Said:
Chad: BES add-on is staying at the $30 price point when bundled with a voice plan. The $40/month is for a standalone BIS without any voice plan.
The article also forgot to mention that the standalone total internet plan is actually going down from $49 to $39.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 1:33 pm, Crewdawg Said:
This is BS to increase the BES to 40.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 2:11 pm, Matt Said:
i was thinking of switching to tmobile just because there blackberry plans are way more reasonable than att’s i mean you get minutes data email and text messages if att did that i would keep them. im trying to keep costs down my airsoft business is still getting off the ground, just need a pda with a reasonable data plan and email
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 2:19 pm, AlphaVirus Said:
Is Tmobile the only cell phone carrier who knows who to do right for its customers?
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 2:34 pm, inebriat3d Said:
this is great to see! now that the curve is coming in a week or so…
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 3:09 pm, dand Said:
Seriously does ANYONE know when the 3G launch is going to be? Someone out there HAS to know. tmophonehome? the BGR Himself perhaps? I need to start sleeping at night!
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 3:32 pm, Rey Said:
Lance- thanks for clearing that up for me
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 3:52 pm, TJ Said:
test5477- You are wrong. T-Mobile didn’t choose to use the 1700MHz spectrum. They didn’t have a chose since some of their markets don’t have enough spectrum to cover both Voice and Data at the same time, like Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T does. Verizon and AT&T have alot of spectrum since they use the 850MHz and 1900MHz band together in many markets. T-Mobile only has the 1900MHz band natively, and some cities can’t handle the voice network properly since spectrum is being used to the limit. When you add customers to your network, the spectrum gets used more and more, so therefore they need more spectrum. You can’t offer services without the right amount of spectrum to accommodate them.
Once T-Mobile launches 3G, you will see more and more phones become both Quad-band GSM/EDGE with Quad-band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA.
Phones with the Quad-Band GSM/EDGE will work worldwide, since it supports 850/900/1800/1900MHz, and it will become more useful since the phones will also support worldwide 3G since phones will start to have UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 850/1700/1900/2100MHz chips.
When AT&T launched 3G 2 years ago, most 3G phones were only UMTS/HSDPA 2100MHz. Now most 3G phones are Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA to support AT&T and other companies that use 3G on the 850/1900MHz bands. This is to remind you, that AT&T also bought 1700MHz spectrum, but they have not mentioned what they will use that spectrum for.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 4:10 pm, Galvatron Said:
Well the reson tmo dosn’t use the 850mhz frequency is becaus that is att is using HSDPA. Tmo is planing on using umts but I would have hade had it both ways. Stupid fcc the tropped the ball on that one.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 5:06 pm, test5477 Said:
Well I stand corrected thanks TJ.
None the less it will hurt them in the future to not have the same coverage as the competitors.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 6:57 pm, tmophonehome Said:
I would speculate that 3G for T-Mobile is nearly 6 months away - at the very minimum. Tmo@home was discussed nearly 5 years ago with VoiceStream, and it was just until recently that you are seeing it. TMO is definitely the price leader and their network proves it! When did SUV drivers care about gas prices anyway?
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 7:08 pm, Jamie Said:
I just got a visit from my T-mobile rep today. She brought some new brochures with these new plans on it. One thing that was gone from the new rate plans is the Blackberry Minutes and Mail plan. I wonder if they are planning on stopping it?
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 7:13 pm, derX Said:
Oh. Yay. Let’s get all the EDGE we can!
If they’re lowering prices so much, how are they going to pay for those 3G deployment costs.
While writing the above statement, I thought, hey, maybe they’re lowering the prices to get the users interested in data to increase their want of 3G when they finally do deploy it….at that time, the Samsung i760 and the VX6800 would’ve been freshly released, too.
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On Sep 11, 2007 @ 7:34 pm, Swiffy Said:
3g will begin in 17 cities in early october, increasing to approx 40 by the spring. not for the general public at first, just us testers and a few others.
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