Category Archives: T-Mobile

T-Mobile to Raise the Price of Its Premium Unlimited Data Plan

T-Mobile

The US telecommunication market is often stirred with a buzz every now and then. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint – the four major telecom companies of the US are always up to one thing or another.

Something similar had been recently witnessed when the T-Mobile and Sprint merger talks heated up. And now, as things seemed to have settled down a bit, T-Mobile has made another move!

The third largest mobile prepaid phone service provider has announced and confirmed a rise in the prices of its premium unlimited data plan.

The Increase in Price

The price of T-Mobile’s One Plus unlimited plan has been increased by $5. Thus, the add-on features of the One unlimited plan of the once cheap phone service are now available at a raised price of $10 per month.

These add-on features include the HD video option, preventing customers from being pushed to 480p video quality.

This hike in prices made the $70 One Plus Unlimited Plan by T-Mobile available for a total of $80 every month. This price is inclusive of all the taxes.

The plan has usually been liked by customers because of the high-quality internet service that it offers. The plan offers unlimited HD video streaming and unlimited usage of the mobile hotspot feature of which the first 10 GB are available at LTE speed.

Also, customers can enjoy features like in-flight Wi-Fi from Gogo and around 256 kbps to 128 kbps speed of international data.

The changes have put question marks on high-quality yet cheap phone service provided by T-Mobile as the plan has become expensive now.

The change in the plan was first brought to light by Reddit users and the company confirmed these changes after a while.

Why the Change?

According to a spokeswoman from T-Mobile, the change in the One Plus unlimited plan by the prepaid phone service provider, depicts the end of the promo period. The changes are also considered as T-Mobile’s move to match its rival Verizon’s unlimited plan.

This is because the HD video and hotspot features available with T-Mobile’s plan are similar to that of Verizon’s. However, when it comes to comparing the plans on the basis of price, AT&T is still the most expensive telecom vendor with an unlimited plan of $90 per month.

There is still an intense competition going on among all the telecom giants and such changes are a result of the competitive vibe going on in the market.

The change in the plan might be the end of a promotional period but officials from T-Mobile declined to acknowledge the raised price of the unlimited plan as part of another promotional period.

So, with the raised prices on its premium unlimited plan, T-Mobile has made it to the hot news once again! It’s yet to be seen whether things work out in favor of the mobile prepaid phone service provider or not.

With hiked prices, customers might react in certain negative manners but as it is one of the best data plans by the company, they might still stick to it! So, let’s wait and see how this move by T-Mobile plays out!

T-Mobile’s New Attack on Verizon: Will Things Actually Work?

T-Mobile

The third largest mobile and non-residential home telephone service provider in the US, T-Mobile, is staying relevant in the news headlines through its new strategies and challenges for its competitors. And yet again, the company has proved its point that it’s not going to stop!

T-Mobile’s New Assault on Verizon

With a recent announcement, T-Mobile has put its new limited-time promotion to the forefront. This promotion targets the customers of Verizon Wireless.

According to T-Mobile, if Verizon customers switch to its affordable telephone service, the carrier will pay the complete balance owed for their mobile devices including iPhone and Google Pixel. The amount to be paid can even be as much as $1000.

“Switch and keep your eligible iPhone or Pixel. We’ll pay for it. That’s right, starting May 31st we’ll pay off what you owe on your phone via a prepaid card when you leave Verizon, join T-Mobile ONE™, and get PDP Plus” T-Mobile’s website says about the offer.

The offer is valid for iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, iPhone SE, Google Pixel, and Google Pixel XL.

The phones should be in a good working condition and must not be damaged. Also, Verizon customers must have their Verizon account details handy when they go to take advantage of the offer.

The offer can easily be redeemed through any nearby T-Mobile store.

The company will also provide early termination fee to the converting customers. However, the offer is valid only for Verizon customers that are have been using the network for more than 60 days. Along with the offer, the carrier needs the customers to commit to the $15 monthly plan for device protection, which can later be canceled.

With this, the entire offer creates a great margin for T-Mobile, making it sound quite profitable to the company.

The offer, by the growing mobile and non-residential home telephone service provider, is seen as one of the best promotional offers by a telecommunication carrier and it has created quite a buzz in the market.

The Catch

The promotional offer is a great win for both the customer and the company. For T-Mobile, it can turn out to be a goldmine as it is targeting the high-value customers that are already using the high-priced mobile phones – iPhone and Google Pixel.

This clearly shows that T-Mobile is expanding its customer base of affordable telephone service to the customers who can afford its expensive mobile plans.

These customers are said to be the ones with a high Average Revenue per User (ARPU).

In a Nutshell

T-Mobile has been creating waves for Verizon for a long time now. We have seen in previous scenarios that the growing mobile and non-residential home telephone service provider has brought Verizon a lot of loss.

With yet another breaking offer, T-Mobile probably has woken up Verizon officials who are bound to put their thinking caps on now and come with a better offer. If Verizon doesn’t snap into action soon, it might lose a number of its high-value customers.

However, we’re yet to see how the offer works for T-Mobile. So, let’s just wait and see!

T-Mobile to Increase Monthly Customer Fees from 10th June

T Mobile home phone service
With another round of news, the growing mobile and home phone service provider – T-Mobile – has made it to the headlines, again.

According to the T-Mobile, the company has incurred certain losses in the past and is carrying them forward till the present day. Thus, to recover from these losses, T-Mobile has decided to increase some monthly customer fees, the next month.

The Announcement

The mobile and prepaid phone service provider made an announcement recently, to increase certain monthly fee charges for its customers. The increase in the fees is going to affect a number of T-Mobile customers.

With effect from 10th June 2017, a few select T-Mobile accounts will face an increase in the Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee.

The increase in the fee would be from $2.71 to $3.18 for the voice lines and from $0.98 t0 $1.16 for the data lines.

The customers using the T-Mobile ONE Taxes & Fees Included plan are, however, unaffected by this change. But all other customers of the prepaid phone service provider, come in the loop.

As per T-Mobile, the former customers of the SunCom Wireless were exempted from this fee but now, with the increase in the fee, these customers are also going to pay it. It is only if they’re not using the T-Mobile ONE Taxes & Fees Included plan.

SunCom is a wireless carrier based in Pennsylvania that was acquired by T-Mobile in 2008 for an amount of $1.6 billion.

According to T-Mobile, a growing mobile and home phone service provider, the changes in the fee structure for its services are based on the cost structure of its third-party services and that of the government program compliance. The changes are said to be a part of T-Mobile’s standard price adjustments.

The company said that it regularly reviews the related compliance costs of its services and adjusts the customer fees in accordance with these changes, charging the customers accurately as per their choice of plan.

The T-Mobile officials said, “This is not a government tax, rather a fee collected and retained by T-Mobile to help recover certain costs we have already incurred and continue to incur. It includes: 1) Funding and complying with government mandates, programs, and obligations, like E911 or local number portability ($0.60 of the total charge for voice lines and $0.15 for data only lines), and 2) Charges imposed on T-Mobile by other carriers for the delivery of calls from our customers to theirs, and by third parties for certain network facilities and services we purchase to provide you with service (Up until 6/10/2017, it will be $2.11 of the total charge for voice lines or $0.83 for data only lines; From 6/10/2017 on it will be $2.58 of the total charge for voice lines or $1.01 for data only lines).”

Thus, the increase in the customer fee by the home phone and prepaid phone service provider must not be mistaken for the government taxes or fees as the money is to be retained by the service provider, itself.

In a Nutshell

T-Mobile has planned to increase certain monthly fees for its customers, implementing from June 10. The idea behind such increase in the customer fees is to make up for the losses being continuously incurred by the mobile and home phone service provider.

A number of customers will be affected by this change, except for the ones that have opted for the T-Mobile ONE Taxes & Fees Included plan. So, we’re to see if T-Mobile has made its way to healing from the previous losses or to incur more of them.

T-Mobile Led the FCC’s Incentive Auction That Drew $19.8 Billion

T-Mobile's FCC Incentive Auction

Conducted recently by the Federal Communications Commission, what is known to be the World’s First Broadcast Incentive Auction, has been a great mix of events!

The auction drew $19.8 billion in bids, out of which T-Mobile spent $8 billion. Thus, becoming the leader of the auction. With a number of mobile, wireless, and long distance phone service providers, the spectrum auction by FCC has been a hit.

However, certain events started a buzz in the telecommunications industry.

T-Mobile Participating and Leading the Auction

Among the behemoth prepaid and cheap home phone service providers, T-Mobile managed to win the most number of licenses with its huge spending of $8 billion. According to the FCC, the telecommunication company won the auction for more than 1,500 spectrum blocks, ranging to more than 400 markets.

According to a Twitter update by Neville Ray, the Chief Technology Officer at T-Mobile, “T-Mobile expects 1 million+ sq. miles of 600 MHz will clear in 2017 AND we will begin deployment this year in new & existing markets,”

Thus, the winning spectrum is to be used by the prepaid and long distance phone service provider, to its best. The subscribers are also said to require an upgrade of their phone quipment to be capable of getting great network services in the latest band.

This latest buzz is turning out to be great for the wireless and mobile users of T-Mobile.

The Participation by Other Companies

Besides T-Mobile US Inc., the other two among the top buyers in the auction were Dish Network Corp. and Comcast Corp. The two companies spent $6.2 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.

The participation of companies like Comcast that isn’t even involved in cellular services yet is a great sign of some changes coming in the telecommunications industry.

Surprisingly, the telecommunication behemoths like AT&T and Verizon did not seem active during the auction.

Whereas AT&T, one of the best long distance phone service providers, spent $910 million only on licenses, Verizon declined to place any bid.

About the auction, Verizon said that spending on the spectrum uses a great amount of capital as the waves are quite expensive. The mobile and cheap home phone service provider is interested in investing in improved technology, instead.

Though Verizon didn’t spend on the airwaves, the telecommunication giant seems quite poised to grow its network.

Another reason for AT&T and Verizon’s cold response at the auction can be their recent investment of a billion dollars in the high-frequency airwaves. With these investments, both the mobile and cheap home phone service providers are aiming at growing their ultrafast networks.

However, the absence and less participation of both these telecommunication companies has raised a number of questions with a number of people being surprised by the news.

Final Thoughts

Until today, T-Mobile has not held any low-band frequencies and thus, its network has been weak and interrupted in the rural areas as well as in buildings. Thus, its investment in the airwaves is an important step towards the growth and betterment of this prepaid and long distance phone service provider’s network.

Dallas 911 Call Spike under Control by T-Mobile and City Officials

Dallas 911

Being associated with the two recent deaths in Dallas, Texas, T-Mobile snapped into action to fix the 911 ghost call troubles being faced by their users with its Texas phone services.

According to the recent news headlines, a 6-month-old infant, Brandon Alex died on March 11, as he succumbed to his injuries while his babysitter couldn’t connect with the 911 emergency centres.

As per the news, Brandon had fallen and wasn’t moving, apparently injured. The babysitter of the infant tried calling 911 multiple times, but was either put on hold or left unanswered. The babysitter was reportedly using T-Mobile prepaid phone service on her cellphone.

After the infant’s mother rushed back home and took him to the hospital, he was declared dead.

The Technology Glitch

According to officials, the phones using T-Mobile’s Texas phone services were making multiple 911 emergency calls, flooding the emergency call centers with an uncontrollable amount traffic.

As a result, people were being put on hold for a long period of time and, their calls were still not being answered. In most of the cases, the waiting period was as long as 30-40 minutes. That is completely inconsistent with the city’s policy of answering emergency calls within 10 seconds.

The glitch caused in mobile prepaid phone service by T-Mobile instantly became a serious matter after the association with two deaths, one of a 6-month-old infant and the other of a 52-year-old man.

According to T.C. Broadnax, Dallas City Manager, the issue with the 911 emergency calls had been faced by the city since October 2016. The matter had been discussed with T-Mobile officials in November and the issues were considered as resolved in January 2017.

However, a recent 911 call glitch in the city again raised questions on T-Mobile, the renowned mobile and cheap local phone service provider in the city.

Broadnax stated that the evening when Brandon Alex died, the call center was flooded with more than 400 calls. According to officials, Brandon’s babysitter had called multiple times, after she was placed on a hold.

Solution to the Problem

Just after the problem was recognized, the top T-Mobile executives and engineers from this prepaid phone service giant came to Dallas. The experts reached out to work with city officials towards resolving the problem of the ghost calls.

The city brought 10 extra call takers on board for handling the increased amount of calls.

A week after the glitch occurred, there was no such hike in the emergency calls on the following Saturday. This weekend, the call takers were able to answer almost 90 percent of the emergency calls within 10 seconds.

This was made possible by technical experts and engineers from T-Mobile who are continuously working to make the company’s Texas phone services great again.

However, the actual reason behind the occurrence of the glitch is still not clear.

Council member Carolyn King-Arnold mentioned that the technical glitch will be completely solved, however, it might take a few more days.

“We will get the answer to whether it’s a lack of communication or whatever is going on in terms of the breakdowns,” she stated. “Either way we are committed to the safety of the citizens of Dallas.”

Final Thoughts

Such a technical fault in T-Mobile’s renowned telecommunications network has not only harmed the reputation of the company in Texas but has also put the safety of the citizens at a stake.

The families of the deceased ones are still in a state of trauma and the correction of the glitch provides little relief as they won’t get their loved ones back now.

With such an unfortunate and chaotic event, the prepaid phone service provider has been in the headlines again with a lot of unhappy customers and Texas City officials.

T-Mobile Improves Unlimited Data Plans after Competition from Verizon Wireless

http://www.americandialtone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/T-Mobile Unlimited Data Plan

Market competition seems to be getting too tough for T-Mobile. Market researchers, analysts, investors and executives have seen this through the constantly growing impact of unlimited data plans. This is certainly making consumers the predictable winners.

Thanks to Fierce Competition by Verizon Wireless to T-Mobile:

That is right! Verizon Wireless is mainly responsible for the change in the wireless landscape with regard to unlimited data plans. Verizon Wireless, one of the premiere local phone service providers in United States, has decided to make the hunt for high data users more competitive with T-Mobile in this category.

T-Mobile had started its unlimited data plans in 2016. T-Mobile declared the enhancement of its data plans immediately after Verizon Wireless launched its very first unlimited data plans in the span of five years. T-Mobile also announced a huge cut in prices.

What Else?

The company had introduced T-Mobile One during the month of August. The local phone service provider downgraded all streaming videos to phones from HD to pure DVD quality. As for HD quality videos, they were only available for users paying for higher plans like $3 on a daily basis or $15 monthly.

Competition from Verizon Wireless Forced T-Mobile to Stop This Practice:

All T-Mobile Local phone subscribers must be thankful to the stiff competition given by Verizon Wireless in this category. As a result, Mr. John Legere, the CEO of T-Mobile has informed customers through his twitter account that the company is soon going to stop downgrading videos to DVD quality to let customers enjoy High Definition videos for no extra charges.

T-Mobile Plans to Compete Against Verizon Wireless’s 10 GB Monthly Deal:

Now T-Mobile is getting ready to return the favor to Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile was offering its local phone service subscribers limited data to share for its local phone service subscribers from their phones as well as tablets through Wi-Fi tethering using extremely slow speeds of around 512 Kbps.

T-Mobile had been offering its high speed plan that cost customers at least $25 extra every month. Now Mr. John Legere, the Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile has clarified that the company is now planning to match Verizon Wireless’ plan of 10GB per month of LTE speed tethered data.

T-Mobile’s Steps in This Direction:

As for T-Mobile’s plan, it still begins at the cost of $70. It is almost $10 less than what Verizon Wireless charges to its customers. However, T-Mobile’s decision to eliminate added fees as well taxes could inspire Verizon Wireless’s customers to join T-Mobile’s network. They can enjoy a few percent more discount. Moreover, T-Mobile has also reduced the cost of its two-line plan from $120 to the amount of $100. On the other hand, Verizon Wireless charges the $140 excluding taxes and fees for two lines to its local phone service users.

Now, it is not the right time to predict the impact of this decision on T-Mobile’s growth. The company needs to be careful in this process. We can only wait and see the result of these plan changes.

T-Mobile Beats All Carriers in Speed Test and Plans to Roll Out 5G Services

5G

Local phone service providers in the United States are leaving no stone unturned when seeking growth options/opportunities in the wireless sector. Popular local phone service providers like Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T are launching new programs and services every other day for this purpose. Therefore, T-Mobile, with over 300 million subscribers in United States is trying to match that pace. The company is planning to roll out 5G services for its local phone service subscribers.

Rolling out established 5G Services on Commercial Front will Take Time:

This is exactly what T-Mobile currently believes in. Most of the manufacturers and service providers have anticipated a lot of success for 5G in 2020. However, T-Mobile is not so confident in this regard. Rolling out established 5G services for local phone subscribers will require a number of years.

T-Mobile’s Proclamations:

The company is waiting for 5G services to be available to get rolled out for commercial purposes. T-Mobile did not take much time to remind us that the company is the only provider of 1 GBPS speed on its own network throughout the United States. The company also proclaimed to have almost 313 million local phone service subscribers in the United States. This number is hardly one million less than the number of subscribers associated with Verizon Wireless. This number talks volumes about the place occupied by T-Mobile in the market in competition with AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Android Headlines Say…

5G is extremely stimulating. The standard of 5G is still very much indefinite. As for reason, all phone service providers will have to construct new telecommunications right from scratch.

Neville Ray has something to Say:

He is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at T-Mobile. According to him, the company is fully equipped with enough options to beat competitors like Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and AT&T. T-Mobile came up with a significant achievement related to UL and DL throughout in MBPS. T-Mobile has bagged first place with 24.4 and 12.1, with Verizon Wireless placing second with 24.3 and 8.5. AT&T is sitting in the third spot with 23.9 and 7.6 whereas Sprint INC. gets the wooden spoon with 15.2 and 4.8.

There is something for the Phone Service Provider to Worry About:

When it comes to the performance of Extended Range LTE, T-Mobile easily beats the competition. T-Mobile’s Extended Range of LTE services performs at least four times better in buildings and six times better from the towers, capable of delivering coverage to at least 250 million phone service subscribers across more than 500 metro cities in United States. The phone service provider has successfully beaten its competitors in terms of speed. However, the company has been called out by Netherlands. Much of its credit goes to Zero rating of services for streaming video and music.

At last:

Although T-Mobile has successfully defeated industrial competitors like AT&T, Sprint INC. and Verizon Wireless, the company needs to pay heed towards its Zero rating services for streaming video and music online to successfully roll out 5G services. Now it will be interesting to see what the company decides to do in this regard in the time to come.

Keep coming back to our website as will keep you updated in this regard.

T-Mobile Comes up with Cheap Phone Service Plans for Wi-Fi Use in Cars for Customers

T-Mobile wi-fi services

T-Mobile is Up to Something New

T-Mobile has been trying to turn cars into Wi-Fi hotspots for its local phone service users for a long time.  The company has introduced a small but very smart device called SyncUp Drive. It is a kind of plugin module that can provide wi-fi connectivity as well as in-car data monitoring.

Company’s Objective:

The company has introduced SyncUP Drive for its local phone service users mainly with the objective of seeking growth in the wireless sector. It is T-Mobile’s strategic move to find way to adding to its revenue. The company has aggressively focused on gaining new customers in the past few years. T-Mobile has been getting new subscribers successfully as compared to its major competitors like Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

The Functionality of T-Mobile:

This is where T-Mobile’s SyncUP Drive exceeds the capability of AT&T’s and Verizon Wireless’s similar devices. T-Mobile’s SyncUp successfully combines the unique features of connected car services provided by both AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Difference in functionality:

T-Mobile’s SyncUp device is somewhat different from AT&T’s plugin devices and Verizon Wireless’s Hum-plugin. AT&T sells two different devices. One of them monitors car data whereas the other ensures Wi-Fi hotspot to the occupant of a vehicle. Coming to Verizon Wireless’s hum-plugin, it only offers the monitoring of car data. It does not offer Wi-Fi- connectivity.

More Significant Difference:

Its functionality is a combination of similar devices from AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Price is where T-Mobile seems to have differed. T-Mobile is offering monthly data plans. T-Mobile’s cheap phone service users can enjoy two Gigabytes at the cost of $50 or for $95 they can enjoy the data from 10 gigabytes to 22 gigabytes.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless DATA Plans:

The data plans offered by AT&T are somewhat stingier as compared to the data plans offered by T-Mobile. AT&T charges $20 for a gigabyte and $30 for three gigabytes. However, AT&T also allows its cheap phone service users to use data from their cellphone data allowance at the cost of only $10.

This is where Verizon Wireless proves to be very expensive. Verizon Wireless charges $30 for the equipment needed called the Hum-plugin. To add more to it, Verizon Wireless also charges the amount of $20 for its activation fee and then $10 on a monthly basis for services.

This is What T-Mobile is Doing:

T-Mobile seems to have two views on what they are offering. Constantly changing statements by the company prove it. T-Mobile first said that customers requesting Data Monitoring Services instead of the Wi-Fi connection will have to pay $150 just for getting the device needed. Sometime later, the company came up with another announcement in this regard and said that every user must have data plan for this service.

Final Words:

Plugins like Hum are similar to all sorts of connected car services. Almost every car manufacturer is focusing on incorporating such devices in their cars. AT&T is a market leader in the category of such connected car services with over 50% of the market share dedicated to new car connections. AT&T has a profitable deal in place with some of the leading auto manufacturers of the world like Audi, Ford and Subaru. Taking all this into consideration, it will be very interesting to see the way T-Mobile seeks growth in this sector of wireless services. It is just the beginning down a new track for T-Mobile. T-Mobile’s way to success in this category of wireless services is not going to be easy in the fierce competition being presented by the market leaders like Verizon Wireless and AT&T.  Now let’s see what happens.

Bring Your Pixel and Pixel XL to T-Mobile and Get Reimbursement of up to $325

Google Pixel, Pixel XL

 

Cellphone users can get Google’s new Pixel only at Google Stores, Verizon Wireless, or Best Buy. So, it got T-Mobile thinking about how they could get a piece of the business from those interested in this fantastic new smartphone. Well, if you are interested in the Google Pixel, don’t count out T-Mobile as your carrier. The company has announced a discount for Local cellphone service subscribers for bringing the handset over to their network to sign-up for a T-Mobile One plan.

Here is the Deal:

Have you already bought Google’s Pixel or Pixel XL phone? If yes, you simply need to switch your carrier to T-Mobile and sign-up for a T-Mobile One plan. In this way, the company will reimburse you the amount of $325 over the next two years.

What If Any Customer Owns the Regular Pixel with 32GB Storage?

If anyone is planning to buy a regular Pixel phone offering 32 GB storage, then the reimbursement would be somewhere around half the cost of the phone. If it is broken out monthly, it would be the amount of $13.55 in credit every month to your bill for the period of the next two consecutive years.

What’s the catch?

Wait! It is not an overnight process. If you want to bring your Pixel to T-Mobile’s network then you must run your proof of purchase through the validation site of T-Mobile. Once the validation and signup process are completed successfully, then you will get the amount of $13.55 credited to your monthly bill for the next two years.

What about the Existing Customers?

The T-Mobile promo launched in this regard does not say that you must be a new local cellphone service subscriber for availing this offer. All of the existing customers simply need to own the Pixel or Pixel XL phone of Google and sign-up on the T-Mobile One plan.  This has been further confirmed by the tweet from T-Mobile’s Chief Executive officer, Mr. John Legere, that said “Current customers can get the deal, they just need to “migrate to a #TMobileONE plan.”

Remember, this limited time offer is subject to change anytime. Users will also need timely redemption. It is clearly non-combinable with other offers run by the company.  Make sure all of the lines are active and in good standing before applying for the credit. It may take 1-2 billing cycles. As for limits, the credit is available for up to 8 lines per account. You can confirm all of these facts from the official website of T-Mobile. Customers already having their Google Pixel can get their SIM card right away.

At last:

T-Mobile has successfully got themselves in the news about Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL. It efficiently indicates that Mr. John Legere, the Chief Executive Officer of T-Mobile, is successfully and easily finding new ways to attract new customers and retain existing customers.

Keep coming back to our website as we will continue to post the latest news related to this offer. You can even sign up to our blog list and get all sorts of relevant news right in your inbox.

T-Mobile Slow Speeds for “Unlimited” Customers Will Cost $48M to the Carrier

The FCC has made it clear that T-Mobile slow speeds for “unlimited” customers lacked transparency and will cost the carrier around $48 million or more.

T-Mobile

“The nation’s third-largest mobile network operator will pay a fine and provide benefits to consumers totaling $48 million as a part of a settlement regarding its policies that slowed data speeds for both T-Mobile and MetroPCS customers who exceeded their monthly data allotments” sources confirmed.

“The FCC’s investigation found that the company policy allows it to slow down data speeds when T-Mobile or MetroPCS customers on so-called ‘unlimited’ plans exceed a monthly data threshold,” the Commission said in a press release. “Company advertisements and other disclosures may have led unlimited data plan customers to expect that they were buying better and faster service than what they received.”

The FCC has confirmed it received complaints from the carrier’s customers regarding its unlimited data plan which gave false information to the users. The data plans that had been marketed as unlimited included “de-prioritized” speeds once monthly data allotments were reached. The commission further added “T-Mobile slows data speeds for its heaviest users who’ve consumed their monthly data quotas when network traffic is particularly heavy.

“According to consumers, this policy rendered data services ‘unusable’ for many hours each day and substantially limited their access to data,” the FCC said. “The bureau believes that the company failed to adequately inform its ‘unlimited’ data plan customers that their data would be slowed at times if they used more than 17 GB in a given month.”

The deal requires T-Mobile to pay a $7.5 million fine to the U.S. Treasury as well as funding “a $35.5 million consumer benefit program” for customers affected by its “unlimited” policies.

The carrier also agreed to spend at least $5 million to provide free devices to students in low-income school districts and free mobile broadband services to those devices at a reduced cost to the schools. The program will be launched in October 2017 and enroll 5,000 students per quarter over four years.