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Unlimited data will likely die a slow death at T-Mobile, but that’s not a bad thing

Robert Nazarian
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A sign outside of T Mobile headquarters.
Ken Wolter / 123rf
T-Mobile’s Un-carrier programs have been known for giving customers deal after deal, but it looks like the carrier is positioning itself to take away something very appealing: unlimited data. However, it’s not all doom and gloom and if anyone can pull this off without hurting its customers, T-Mobile can.

CFO Braxton Carter hinted at this bad news during a Deutsche Bank investor conference when he said the carrier continues to have a “strategy of pivoting away from unlimited data.” He also noted the past price increases for the unlimited plan, with the most recent one being a $15 increase last November.

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However, the carrier kicked off a new promotion earlier this year in which a family of four can get four lines of unlimited data for only $150 per month. Carter reiterated that this is a limited-time promotion in an effort to drive as much growth as possible during the first quarter of the year.

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Although Carter didn’t specifically say the Un-carrier would completely eliminate the unlimited plan, it obviously won’t be offered on the cheap. One of the reasons why T-Mobile can afford to do this is because of Binge On and Music Unlimited. Both services allow customers to stream music and videos from highly popular apps without any of it counting towards data caps. These apps include Spotify, Google Play Music, and Pandora on the music side, and Netflix, Hulu, and recently added YouTube on the video side.

The bottom line here is that with BingeOn and Music Unlimited, the majority of T-Mobile customers really don’t need unlimited data and might be overpaying for it. For example, T-Mobile is offering four lines of 10GB (40GB total) each for only $120. Not only is that a savings of $30 from the $150 unlimited promotion, it should be more than enough data to cover even the most data-hungry customers, especially when the majority of music and video streams won’t count against it.

Currently, Sprint and T-Mobile are the only carriers offering unlimited data to all customers. AT&T does offer unlimited data, but only to those that subscribe to DirecTV as well. Verizon offers no unlimited data plans.

If unlimited is still important to you and you’re fond of T-Mobile, you might want to take advantage of the current promotion now before it’s too late.

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Robert Nazarian
Robert Nazarian
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Robert Nazarian became a technology enthusiast when his parents bought him a Radio Shack TRS-80 Color. Now his biggest…
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