Thinking about jumping on an unlimited data plan? Sprint is jumping on T-Mobile’s bandwagon with Unlimited Freedom — two lines with unlimited talk, text, and data for $100 a month.
The carrier says there’s no other access charges or hidden fees, and subscribers will be able to opt for the new plan starting August 19. The Unlimited Freedom announcement comes minutes after T-Mobile announced Un-carrier 12, a new initiative that gets rid of the magenta company’s data plans.
For Sprint’s offer, a single line of unlimited data will cost you $60 a month, and a second will cost $40 — totaling $100. You can add up to 10 more lines, and each additional line will cost you $30 each. With T-Mobile’s new plan, two lines of unlimited data will cost $120 plus you’ll get all the other bells and whistles like T-Mobile Tuesdays, Music Freedom, and more.
Under the new plan, T-Mobile limits video playback to 480 pixels thanks to its Binge On program. If you want HD video, you’ll have to cough up an additional $25 under the new plan. Sprint’s offer isn’t better, as it also “optimizes” videos, as well as music and games. And there’s no option to pay more for HD video.
“Unlimited Freedom utilizes optimization for streaming video, gaming, and music, delivering a high-quality viewing experience for mobile devices with video streams of up to 480p resolution, gaming up to 2mbps, and music streams at extreme quality of up to 500kbps,” according to Sprint.
T-Mobile and Sprint’s plans also affect tethering. Sprint makes no mention of tethering, and it doesn’t seem like the carrier offers it. T-Mobile on the other hand says tethering will be available under its new plan, but only on 2G speeds. You can tether with LTE but that costs an additional $15 a month for every 5GB of data.
A family of four can get unlimited plans from both Sprint and T-Mobile for $160.
Sprint’s also adding a few changes to Boost Mobile, its prepaid brand. “Unlimited Unhook’d” offers unlimited talk, text, as well as the same “optimized” video playback, gaming, music, and unlimited 4G LTE data. This costs $50 a month for one line, with an additional $30 per line up to five total lines. You can also choose Boost Mobile’s new $30 Unlimited Starter plan, which offer 1GB of 4G LTE data, but unlimited talk and text. You’ll revert back to low-speed networks, but you can add 1GB of 4G LTE for $5 a month.
