T-Mobile had ditched contracts and subsidized phones in favor of non-contract plans that start at $50 per month for 500MB of high-speed data and rise depending on data usage.
The carrier, which has billed itself as the "Uncarrier" and plans to elaborate more at a press conference slated for tomorrow, has updated its website with the new data plans, according to CNET. The price rises as the data level increases, so 2GB plan is $60 and a 4GB is $70, while more data will cost more.
So how do T-Mobile's new plans fare against Simple Mobile, a pre-paid service that works with T-Mobile phones? Simple Mobile offers an unlimited 4G data plan for $50 for most devices, including BlackBerry, while a $40 plan offers 250MB at 4G, according to Simple Mobile's website.
Straight Talk, meanwhile, offers an unlimited plan for $45 per month, according to its website. For $60 per month, user get an unlimited plan including international calling and texting.
T-Mobile's new rate is separate from the installment fees customers would play for their phones. Instead of a subsidy, a small fee is added on top of the phone bill each month to pay off the smartphone. Unlike the higher monthly fees paid to a carrier under a contract, the fees stop once you pay off the phone.
Still, that means an additional fee for what would have been the life of a two-year contract. The Samsung Galaxy S3, for instance, would cost an extra $20 a month for 24 months, in addition to $109.99 up front. A lower-end Galaxy S2 will cost nothing up front, but would require a $16 fee on top of your phone bill for 24 months. Customers can opt to pay the full price instead. The Galaxy S3 costs $549.99.
