If you use your mobile phone primarily for texting and Web access, you can get an unlimited data and texting plan from T-Mobile for as little as $20 with the carrier’s recently revised Simple Choice Data Only plan.
Even if you’re a longtime T-Mobile customer, this is likely the first you’ve heard of the carrier’s data-only plan, even though a spokesman for Washington-based T-Mobile told CNET that the company’s Simple Choice Data Only plan has been around for several years.
But because T-Mobile doesn’t offer the plan online, and doesn’t advertise it, it wasn’t until a revision to the existing Simple Choice Data Only plan was leaked to TmoNews.com earlier this week that the plan’s existence became publicly known.
T-Mobile said it hasn’t broadly publicized its data-only plan, which also includes unlimited texting, because the plan was designed for a niche market: deaf or hard-of-hearing customers. Also, because it’s not offered online, a customer needs to go to a T-Mobile store and ask about that specific plan to get information on it and sign up.
As it turns out, the Simple Choice Data Only plan — which according to the leaked document now has six different data-based monthly rates — is available to anyone, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The revised Simple Choice Data Only plan had an effective date of March 30. It appears the following data-based pricing packages are now available within the plan:
- 2 gigabytes of data – $20 per month
- 6 GB – $35
- 10 GB – $50
- 14 GB – $65
- 18 GB – $80
- 22 GB – $95
CNET said T-Mobile’s data-only plan only works with GSM (Global System for Mobiles) phones, which are used by T-Mobile and AT&T.
Although the Simple Choice Data Only plan doesn’t include voice calls, 911 is still available in emergency situations. If you use an Internet-based phone service like Skype, you could still make calls as long as you have Wi-Fi access.
According to the Journal, Sprint offers a similar data-only plan for $40 a month and Verizon has a $55 data-only plan, but both of those plans are exclusively for customers with hearing difficulties.
What do you think of T-Mobile’s data-only plan? Would you be interested in a phone plan with no voice calling? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.
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