T-Mobile is overhauling its prepaid plans with more data and international access at more competitive prices. They’re definitely worth considering, especially if you have multiple lines.
T-Mobile today announced itsthree new prepaid phone plans, which will replace the current prepaid options starting on June 24. They all have a 5-year “price guarantee,” but withhow many timesT-Mobile and other mobile carriers havefound workaroundsfor price locks, I wouldn’t put much faith in that. Each plan has unlimited talk and text, with the main differences being data speeds, international service, and hotspot. Each plan is also $5 more for the first month, for some reason.
First up isStarter Monthly, which costs $40 per month for one line with AutoPay, or $30 per line for 2–4 lines. It has 15GB of “premium high-speed data,” so once you use all of that, you will have a lower network prioritization (but not necessarily slower speeds) until the next billing cycle starts. There’s no international texting or service in Canada and Mexico. It does have hotspot tethering support, but it uses your premium data allowance and will fully stop working if you exceed the 15GB.
The next plan isUnlimited Monthly, which is $45 per month for one line, or $30 per line for 2–4 lines. It bumps up the high-speed data to 50GB, and the hotspot service is unlimited at 3G speeds, but it’s otherwise the same as Starter Monthly.
The last new plan isUnlimited Plus Monthly, priced at $60 per month for one line, or $30 per line for 2–4 lines. It has the same 50GB high-speed data allowance, but you’re able to text to “215+ countries & destinations” and you have unlimited talk and text inside Canada and Mexico. Hotspot speeds are also boosted to high-speed data for the first 5GB, and then they drop down to the usual 3G speeds.
The Competition
T-Mobile’s new prepaid plans seem like a decent value, especially for people that need multiple lines, but they’re not a significant shakeup from previous offerings. T-Mobile’s prepaid plans already had hotspot support at 3G speeds across all plans, and international access with faster hotspot on the more expensive options.
The main selling point here is prioritization: you should be getting the same data speeds as other T-Mobile customers, at least until your high speed data allowance is used up for the billing cycle. That puts youfurther up the ladderthan people on Mint Mobile, Assurance Wireless, Metro by T-Mobile, and other services using T-Mobile’s cell towers. The prioritization might be important in some heavily congested areas, but if you live in a less populated area, it might not matter.
Visible’s plansare still difficult to beat, especially for one line, andCricket Wirelessmight also be worth considering if AT&T has better coverage in your area than T-Mobile. T-Mobile’s prepaid plans are at least staying competitive, though, instead of adding more bundled services to justify raised prices. We’ve seen a lot of that with postpaid plans over the last few years.
