T-Mobile's “unlimited” data plan that isn’t

T-Mobile announced its new “unlimited” data plan, but a closer look at the specifics shows plenty of limits. The plan, “T-Mobile ONE,” is described by the company as “unlimited everything.” In reality, the plan caps hotspot usage at 2G speeds, up to 128kbps. Want hotspot speed you can actually use? That’ll cost you an additional $15 per 5GB.

What’s more, T-Mobile is continuing the same “optimization” scam it’s used in the past. Just like the company’s zero-rating Binge On program, T-Mobile throttles all video, reducing the visual quality to 480p. Want higher quality? That’ll be an extra $25 per month per line.

Capping hotspot usage and then up-charging for normal data speed, throttling video and up-charging to higher quality – in short, T-Mobile’s “unlimited” plan has significant limits.

No one should be surprised that T-Mobile promises more than it delivers. A report by Change to Win’s Retail Initiative found that T-Mobile’s wireless service advertisements mislead customers and resulted in “unexpected obligations for the company’s subscribers—too often leaving consumers with hundreds or even thousands of dollars in unanticipated charges, at the mercy of aggressive debt collectors and with little recourse to dispute charges.”

Links:

T-Mobile ends cheaper plans and imposes new limits on unlimited data (Ars Technica, Aug. 18, 2016)

New report confirms T-Mobile program throttles all video (Speed Matters, June 20, 2016)

T-Mobile's business practices: deceptive, abusive (Speed Matters, Dec. 10, 2015)

Unmasking the Un-Carrier: Deception and Disparate Impact at T-Mobile (Change to Win, Dec. 2015)