T-Mobile USA said it will drop overage charges on its 5 GB monthly webConnect mobile data plan, but noted it will throttle users' speeds if they exceed that limit. Additionally, the carrier said it is cutting in half its overage charges for its introductory 200 MB monthly plan.
Previously, the nation's No. 4 carrier charged $0.20 per MB of data that users went over their 5 GB limit; now users will just have their data speeds slowed--but T-Mobile did not say by how much. T-Mobile said that only a "very small" number of users go over 5 GB per month when the plan is used in conjunction with an existing home broadband service. T-Mobile also cut the overage on its 200 MB monthly plan from $0.20 to $0.10 per MB. The carrier first introduced the data plans in March.
The carrier, which is deploying an HSPA+ network this year, also launched a promotional offering for its plans. The 5 GB plan now costs $40 per month and the 200 MB plan now costs $20 per month for existing T-Mobile subscribers. The company currently has HSPA+ commercially available in Philadelphia, parts of New York City, New Jersey and Long Island, and will launch the faster service in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles soon.
Other carriers, such as Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) and Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR), do not cap usage, but retain the option of throttling speeds. AT&T Mobility (NYSE: T ), Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) and Sprint Nextel (NASDAQ: S) all cap at 5 GB their monthly 3G data plans.
For more:
- see this Phone Scoop post
- see this Gearlog post
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