New Sprint and T-Mobile Plans Offer Unlimited Data at More Affordable Rates

Perhaps due in part to the fact that the release of the iPhone 7 is just several weeks away, several of America’s largest cellular carriers are making some serious changes to their plans. Just one month after Verizon announced their revamped data plans, and one day after AT&T rolled out their new mobile plans, T-Mobile and Sprint countered, offering incredible new ‘unlimited’ plans.

Both T-Mobile and Sprint’s new plans offer unlimited talk, text, and (with some notable exceptions) data. While unlimited talk and text have long been available on most carriers, low-cost unlimited data plans have been almost non-existent for years. T-Mobile has consolidated all of their tiered plans into one, appropriately called “T-Mobile One”. The T-Mobile One plan offers unlimited talk, text, and 4G LTE data with the caveat that all streaming video playback has been limited to standard-definition 480p – no more HD video unless you’re on Wi-Fi, or you’re willing to shell out an extra $25 per month for HD video.

Sprint’s new plan, called “Unlimited Freedom” also offers unlimited data with the same throttled video playback. However, Unlimited Freedom also limits music streams to 500kbps, which, admittedly, is quite high. For reference, Spotify’s free tier streams at 160kbps, and the premium tier streams up to 320kbps, but only if you enable it in settings. Gaming on the Unlimited Freedom Plan is also throttled to 2Mbps.

Tethering is also limited on the new plans – T-Mobile throttles tethering to 2G, with LTE tethering available for an extra $15 per month per 5GB of data. Sprint’s new plan makes no mention of tethering, and at the moment it’s unclear if it will be available on the plan.

Sprint’s Unlimited Freedom plan kicks off almost immediately – starting tomorrow, users can take advantage of the new plan. Despite its limitations, the plan is quite affordable at $60/month for the first line, $40 for the second, and $30 for each additional line. The T-Mobile One plan launches on September 6^th, offering the first line for $70, a second for $50, and $20 per line for each additional line (up to six).

With some serious competition heating up between mobile carriers, and with mobile phone manufacturers and carriers making it easier than ever to switch, you may entertain the thought of taking advantage of one of these new plans with your brand new iPhone 7 in a couple of weeks.

Do these plans sound like a good deal to you, or are you grandfathered into something better? Let us know in the comments below!