T-Mobile raises unlimited data price from $80 to $95 per month

"No extra cost" promise doesn't apply to every plan.

Jon Brodkin – Nov 11, 2015 12:50 pm | 93

T-Mobile's new pricing scheme. Credit: T-Mobile US

The T-Mobile unlimited data plans that cost $80 per month are getting a price hike to $95.

The new pricing chart (see above) for "Simple Choice Amped" plans that become available Sunday shows that a single smartphone line will cost $50 plus $45 for unlimited LTE data on your phone, with 14GB of mobile hotspot usage. Under existing pricing, unlimited LTE data for your phone costs $80 per month from T-Mobile, but provides only 7GB of tethering use.

Existing customers don't have to switch to the new plans immediately. T-Mobile said in March that Simple Choice customers lock in their rates for a minimum of two years, both on limited and unlimited LTE plans.

While AT&T and Verizon Wireless no longer offer unlimited data to new customers, Sprint sells an unlimited plan for $70.

T-Mobile's new plans let you take advantage of "Family Match" pricing if you buy a family plan where everyone gets the same amount of data. In that scenario, family plans with unlimited data end up costing the same as they do today ($140 for two users, $180 for three users, $220 for four users, etc.).

Customers will pay extra for the 6GB, 10GB, and unlimited data buckets if they don't use Family Match. T-Mobile's limited plans provide a set amount of high-speed data and throttle speeds once customers run out. All plans come with unlimited talk and text.

T-Mobile doubled the limited tiers from 1GB, 3GB, and 5GB to 2GB, 6GB, and 10GB, boasting that it did so while "cutting the cost of extra gigs" and providing "double your data at no extra cost when everyone in the family gets extra data." (By "extra data," T-Mobile means anyone who purchases more than the lowest amount available.) T-Mobile's statements are correct, but the details are a little more complicated when you're not getting a family plan. For individuals, the 6GB plan (previously 3GB) will cost $65, up from $60. The 10GB plan (up from 5GB) will cost $80, up from $70. This also means people on 5GB plans that cost $70 today could switch to a 6GB plan for $65.

The entry-level plan's allotment was raised from 1GB to 2GB while keeping the single-line price of $50 the same. Family plan rates on the entry-level tier remain the same at $80 for two lines, $90 for three lines, $100 for four lines, and so on.

As noted earlier, families who go beyond the entry-level tier will pay the same price for double the data as long as all phones on the plan get the same amount of data. Mixing and matching different data amounts raises the price per gigabyte. For a limited time, the fourth line in family plans will be free. While four lines of 6GB each will normally cost $140 per month going forward, that bundle will cost just $120 for families who lock in the pricing before the offer expires. The same fourth-line-free promotion would drop the price of a four-person unlimited data plan from $220 to $180.

The price changes were announced yesterday, along with a program to exempt certain video services from data caps, while downgrading video quality to 480p unless customers turn the feature off.