C Spire targets major carriers with unlimited data promo at $65 a month

C Spire jumped aboard the unlimited bandwagon with the launch of a holiday marketing campaign.

The nation’s sixth-largest carrier introduced an unlimited voice and data plan for $65 a month when customers buy a new phone. The deal is available to users who activate a new line on a handset through the company’s equipment installment plan with a two-year contract.  

Like other unlimited plans offered by nationwide carriers, C Spire’s unlimited offering isn’t entirely unlimited: The carrier said it “may slow data speeds” for customers who burn through 25 GB of data in a given month.

“The unlimited plan we’re rolling out for the holidays is a way to give our customers something they’ve sought for a while now,” said Suzy Hays, C Spire’s senior vice president of consumer markets, in a press release. “Slowing speeds after 25 GB and offering the plan for a limited time helps us continue to provide all our customers a high-quality network.”

C Spire is waiving activation fees on the plan for all new activations and upgrades, and the unlimited offering can be combined with a current free smartphone promotion as well as an offer of as much as $650 in bill credits for users who switch and trade in their devices.

The company also launched a $40-a-month plan that includes 3 GB of data.

C Spire provides service to roughly 1.2 million customers across Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. The company said earlier this year that it’s considering using its 28 GHz spectrum holdings to connect its growing fiber network to nearby homes, and in July it said it had achieved 2.2 Gbps in 5G tests with Nokia at its Mississippi headquarters.

C Spire is looking to compete with its larger rivals who have recently begun to target customers with unlimited data plans. T-Mobile and Sprint both introduced unlimited data offerings in August—T-Mobile One is available for $70 a month for customers who pay automatically, while Sprint’s Unlimited Freedom sells for $60 a month—and AT&T offers unlimited data to subscribers who are also customers of its DirecTV service. Verizon, meanwhile, remains the lone holdout for unlimited data among the major U.S. carriers.