T-Mobile Raises Unlimited Cap to 50 GB Before Congestion Control Starts
T-Mobile looks to lure in converts with the promise of more data, with its latest update to its Unlimited plans. The wireless network has announced an increase to its "prioritization limit," the monthly amount of data for which speed is guaranteed, to up to 50 GB.
In T-Mobile's news update posted on Tuesday, Sep. 19, company Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray explains how "fast & unlimited can co-exist" in their new scheme. By Sep. 20, the network is upping their "prioritization point" at 50 GB from the previous "data cap" of 31 GB.
Ray compares the new limit to rival networks. "Meanwhile, Verizon and AT&T sit at a meager 22GB, meaning Un-carrier customers can use more than 2x the data before prioritization kicks in," he said in the announcement.
The prioritization scheme makes sure that subscribers under the limit get "priority," especially in the heavily congested areas on T-mobile's network. This means that those who do exceed the 50 GB monthly limit now has to compete with other users for the bandwidth left over from "priority" users.
That's for heavy-traffic areas near cities, for example. Users lucky enough to have coverage in places where network traffic is sparse will still get to consume data at full speed, as Ars Technica notes.
This announcement comes about two weeks after T-Mobile added free Netflix subscriptions to T-Mobile One bundles, for users who subscribe to more than one line of their service. As CTO Ray notes, 50 GB per month means that users can stream two hours of Netflix every day for a month and still have 8 GB left over.
Meanwhile, rumors continue to surface about a possible merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, according to a CNBC report. If this pushes through, this will meld together the third and fourth largest wireless carriers in the country.
