Skip to main content

T-Mobile’s ‘Mobile without Borders’ ends roaming fees within North American continent

It’s a new day, which means that T-Mobile probably has a new way to disrupt the mobile industry. As part of the Un-carrier Amped announcements, “Mobile without Borders,” offers coverage and calling across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada for all Simple Choice customers at no extra charge starting July 15.

T-Mobile has been known for its cutting edge plans and this one is no exception. It not only covers an entire continent at no extra charge, but works with both land lines and mobile phones, including the 4G LTE data that’s already part of existing Simple Choice plans. Everyone with a Simple Choice plan is eligible, including both postpaid and prepaid customers.

If you have ever traveled to Mexico or Canada, you know about the roaming charges that you can incur. In 2014, 35 percent of all international calls and 55 percent of all international travel from the U.S. were to Mexico and Canada. And 70 percent of international trips taken by small and mid-sized businesses were to Mexico and Canada. The U.S. carriers grabbed nearly $10 million in global roaming charges, and 90 percent of that amount went in their pockets.

Of course a new T-Mobile promotion wouldn’t be complete without a dig at the other carriers, and T-Mobile CEO John Legere was happy to oblige, “After spending billions buying up Mexican telecoms, AT&T’s CEO is promising ‘the first seamless network covering Mexico and the U.S.,’ something ‘unique’ that ‘nobody else will be able to do for the consumer.’ So much for that. They won’t be the first. And they won’t offer Canada for free. We’ve done this the Un-carrier way — reaching across borders, partnering with leading providers offering the best LTE networks, creating a simple solution right now — then not charging a penny more for it.”

Cell phone rates can go up 120x or more just by stepping foot in either Mexico or Canada. According to Legere, AT&T’s Passport plan could result in additional fees of $285 per week if, while in Canada, you were to use your phone as you normally do at home.

MobileWithoutBordersNewsroomTile4

Not everyone travels, but T-Mobile customers can still make use of the new deal since calling to Mexico and Canada from the U.S. can also be quite costly. Last year, U.S. customers spent 25 million minutes calling Mexico and Canada, at a potential pay-per-use cost of $7.5 billion. T-Mobile won’t be charging an extra penny for any of these calls.

Mobile without Borders does indeed erase the border in terms of usage charges, because no matter where you are (U.S., Mexico, or Canada), it will be like you’re at home with no extra costs.

T-Mobile’s aggressive promotions continue to help drive growth, and the company also announced today that 2.1 million new customers were added during the second quarter of 2015. That’s a 41 percent year-over-year increase and the ninth straight quarter in which the company gained more than 1 million new customers.

Editors' Recommendations

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…
T-Mobile adding a free year of Apple TV+ to its most expensive plans
Apple TV icon on Apple TV.

T-Mobile today announced that it's giving subscribers to its most expensive mobile plan a free subscription to Apple TV+, which normally costs $60 a year. Those who are subscribed to the Magenta Max plan — which costs $85 a month for a single line — will get Apple's streaming service for free. If you've got T-Mobile's Magenta plan, which costs $70 a month for one line, you'll get six months of Apple TV+ for free.

The perk takes effect on August 31, 2022, and it's good for the foreseeable future. (A previous version of this story stated it was just for one year, but that's legacy copy on T-Mobile's website for the old perk that's being supplanted.)

Read more
T-Mobile partners with SpaceX to ‘end mobile dead zones’
t mobile revvl news

T-Mobile is linking up with SpaceX to use its Starlink satellites to dramatically boost the carrier's cell phone coverage to pretty much all parts of the U.S., bringing connectivity to isolated areas that up to now have been out of reach of providers.

The service will launch next year, starting with texts, MMS, and select messaging apps. Current mobile phones will be able to use T-Mobile’s new service; in other words, no new technology will be required to make it work.

Read more
Elon Musk’s SpaceX to reveal ‘something special’ with T-Mobile
A Starlink dish next to an RV.

Elon Musk’s Starlink will be hosting a live stream later today with T-Mobile, with the satellite internet company set to reveal plans to “increase connectivity.”

As reported by Notebookcheck, the announcement was teased on SpaceX’s Twitter account, which was followed by a tweet from Musk who stressed that “This is something special.”

Read more