T-Mobile launches $40 phone plan with unlimited talk and text

T-Mobile is continuing its un-carrier “consumer revolution” marketing blitzkrieg directed at rival AT&T. The newest phase of the uprising is its $40 Simple Starter plan, which promises unlimited talk and text, 500MB 4G LTE data and tethering with no data overages. The new plan, along with the company’s Jump phone upgrade scheme and its offer to pay early termination fees for people who switch to T-Mobile, may further its recent gains.    

“Un-carrier is a movement, not a marketing strategy,”  said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile, in a press release. “We are freeing consumers from the predatory practices of traditional US wireless companies and that includes these plans that start with a low price and a low data limit, but then hit you with insane fees if you send one too many emails… It’s wrong!  And I personally want to drive those ridiculous schemes out of this industry.”

To back up its claim, T-Mobile compared its plan with AT&T’s cheapest Mobile Share value plan, which provides 300MB of shared data and costs $20 on top of the price of a device. The company pointed out that the price of the plan increases by $20 increments once customers breach their data limit. Legere promises that pledging allegiance to T-Mobile means “you’ll never pay overages again – ever.” Still, T-Mobile won’t magically teleport you to a parallel world where everyone gets unlimited data. There’s a catch with Legere’s guarantee. 

T-Mobile cuts off a user’s data access once the Simple Starter plan’s 500MB limit is reached. The customer will then get a message offering additional data. The options are an additional 500MB for one day for $5 or 1GB for a week for $10.         

You still might have to pay more. They’re just nicer about it because they’ll ask for your permission first before charging you extra. The new plan is phase one of what T-Mobile’s “multiple initiatives.” The company promises more moves over the next two days. If you want to mine for hints over T-Mobile’s next announcements, you can read Legere’s blog here.