Think Pokémon Go is eating up your data? It’s not, but T-Mobile will be offering unlimited data for Pokémon Go players either way.
If you’re a T-Mobile subscriber, you’ll be able to claim unlimited data usage strictly for Pokémon Go via the T-Mobile Tuesdays app. The “un-carrier” recently launched the app to show appreciation for its customers by offering free gifts every Tuesday. Gifts typically come in packs of three, and have included things like $15 Lyft credit, a free Frosty from Wendy’s, and a free movie rental from Vudu.
Ready to catch them all!? #TMobileTuesdays is giving you unlimited data use for #PokémonGo! https://t.co/NrFAxW3KYq pic.twitter.com/pPXxezGV0r
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) July 14, 2016
Pokémon Go has taken the U.S. by storm, consistently topping app charts and making Nintendo’s stocks go up. T-Mobile, like every other business, is hopping on the band wagon. Every Tuesday until August 9, which is the next four Tuesdays, you’ll be able to claim unlimited data for Niantic Labs’ hit game. Once you claim it, you’ll get unlimited data for the game for a year — until August 2017. Next Tuesday’s other gifts will also include a free Frosty, $15 Lyft credit, and 50 percent off select accessories like battery packs — a move that also benefits Pokémon Go players, considering how fast the game depletes a smartphone’s battery.
The un-carrier is also offering 250 people the chance to win $100 “to spend on PokéCoins,” and five winners will also win trips anywhere in the U.S., so you can bring a guest to “hunt new Pokémon.”
These offers will only be available if you claim them via the T-Mobile Tuesdays app. But moving to the bigger picture, Verizon and P3 Communications Inc., a network analytics firm, has said that the popular game is not using a lot of data at all.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a P3 Communications found that the game only uses up 5 to 10 megabytes of data per hour, and the average session only lasts 100 seconds. Yet T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeted that T-Mobile players’ data usage has quadrupled. If the data usage from the game is minuscule, it explains T-Mobile’s willingness to offer it away for free.
