T-Mobile Confirms New Metered 200 MB Data Plan with Overages, High-End Plans Safe for Now

We had reported that T-Mobile USA may be migrating to a metered 200 MB data plan where users would be charged overages if they went over their cap rather than be throttled in data speed, and now it looks like the nation’s fourth largest wireless carrier has confirmed the change.

In a prepared statement, T-Mobile says, “Customers will incur overages of $0.10 per MB when they exceed 200MB of data ($10 for 100MB) up to a maximum monthly payment of $40 with both Value and Classic plans for data including the 200MB add-on fee.”

The new plans will go into effect on August 14th, though customers who had signed up for the data plan on or before August 13th should be grandfathered into the old pricing structure where there data speeds would be significantly throttled, or slowed down, once they go over their monthly cap. For new customers, T-Mobile says that it will send out notices to customers once they reach 90 percent of their usage caps, and also will offer customers the option of switching to a more expensive data plan with a higher cap.

T-Mobile isn’t the only carrier to migrate to caps, meters, and overages away from unlimited data. Larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless had made the move with all of their smartphone plans as those carriers had faced a huge increase of mobile broadband Internet usage with the boom in smartphones, led by iOS and Android devices. Sprint remains the lone tier 1 carrier to offer unlimited 4G data without throttling.

According to the carrier, those who are looking for unlimited data should seek out the 2 GB or higher plan. Those plans offer fast data for the bucket, and once you go over, you won’t get charged for overages. Instead, T-Mobile will throttle your data speeds to 2G access rather than the faster 2G or 3G speeds. Essentially, it’s an unlimited data plan where you pay a premium for a certain amount of fast data per month.

Via: All Things D