T-Mobile just threw down the gauntlet in the wireless pricing wars, announcing an unlimited family plan starting at $100 for two lines.
The plan, which will be available starting tomorrow, includes unlimited talk, text and 4G data, and a number of other services, like Wi-Fi calling. It does not include any additional payments for new phones, which most customers opt to pay on a monthly basis.
Each additional line will cost $40 a month, and its capping the limit at a total of 10 lines.
8/ When you have a family plan on @tmobile, you have your own data, zero domestic overages and you’re not harassing your family over data.
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) December 9, 2014
Today’s announcement is all about one-upping the last carrier’s promotion. Last week, it was Sprint’s turn. It debuted a limited-time offer called “Cut Your Bill in Half.” which was attempting to poach AT&T and Verizon customers by slashing their current rate plans in half.
The pricing wars have led to a non-stop parade of promotions that make things very confusing for the consumer. Even if T-Mobile’s announcement today is not the end-all, be-all offering, the Bellevue-based carrier got one thing right: “Carriers are flooding the airwaves with a mishmash of confusing shared data promotions.”
In a press release, T-Mobile said between AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, it has counted 24 different family and promotional rate plans (It produced the above chart to help you compared them all). In a recent poll, it said 81 percent of people described the data promotions in the wireless industry as “somewhat confusing” or “very confusing.” In particular, 75 percent of people “hate” policing their own family members’ data usage as part of shared plans.
10/ Starting tomorrow, @TMobile has America’s ONLY UNLIMITED 4G LTE Family plan − $100/mth for two lines http://t.co/OwIFmXHQhX
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) December 9, 2014
T-Mobile’s new promotion clearly targets the set of people, who squabble over data usage with their family members. T-Mobile says this plan s the only one to offer unlimited data along with a multi-line discount.
This week AT&T and Verizon Wireless both acknowledged that T-Mobile and Sprint’s deep discounting tactics are starting to take a toll on their businesses, warning that their fourth-quarter performance will be negatively impacted because of them.
