T-Mobile bundles taxes into monthly cost, offers money back on low data use
T-Mobile announced on January 5 that all taxes and fees will be included in the advertised price of the T-Mobile One price plan, starting January 22.
That means, if you sign up for the $120 T-Mobile One unlimited plan for two lines of service with unlimited talk, text and data, your bill at the end of each billing cycle will be $120. No random fees and taxes from every municipality you can imagine.
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The price T-Mobile advertises is the price you pay is the same approach prepaid carriers such as Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS have long used to attract customers and differentiate themselves from larger carriers.
Also starting January 22, the only wireless plan T-Mobile will offer its completely unlimited plan, T-Mobile One. An announcement sure to frustrate those who don't need unlimited data.
To accommodate those customers, anyone who uses under 2 GB of data in a given month will receive a $10 credit on their bill. The new "KickBack on T-Mobile ONE" program isn't limited to specific lines; any line on the account that uses under the 2 GB threshold will receive a credit.
Current T-Mobile customers not on a T-Mobile One plan don't have to switch when the changes take place, but can do so to take advantage of the new pricing structure and kickback program.
Last but not least, T-Mobile has announced T-Mobile One subscribers are locked in at the price they sign up for, instead of forcing an arbitrary expiration date and raising the price down the road which some competitors have done.
T-Mobile's Un-Carrier initiatives under CEO John Legere have, at times, turned the wireless industry on its head. From doing away with overages, killing contracts, yearly upgrades, and not counting streaming music and videos services against a users' data plan, T-Mobile competitors have been quick to adopt, in part, some of T-Mobile's promotions.
It will be interesting to see how fast Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon bundle taxes and fees into the overall cost of a wireless plan, if at all.
T-Mobile's Un-Carrier mentality continues to attract customers and work for the carrier, with 2.1 million net customer additions in the fourth quarter, and 8.2 million customers joining T-Mobile overall in 2016.
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