T-Mobile is reducing its fair usage policy on mobile data with a new cap of 500MB per month. T-Mobile says it’s in an effort to improve services for its customers, and that most of us won’t notice, because we use an average of 200MB of data per month. However, heavy users will find themselves easily exceeding the new limit, and if you’re one of them, you might find your mobile activities restricted by T-Mobile.
Instead of charging for excess data, T-Mobile says it will be “encouraging” heavy data users to sign up to new data plans, and access to some data hungry services like downloading and video streaming (although not email or web browsing), will be restricted.
T-Mobile’s move to cap data comes just a few weeks after Three made all it’s data unlimited, with no fair usage policies. The new T-Mobile fair usage policy will apply from 1 February, and if you’re with T-Mobile they should be notifying you within the next few days.
T-Mobile said: “These restrictions will affect both new and existing customers, and will ensure an improved quality of service for all of our mobile internet users…T-Mobile will not charge its customers additional rates for exceeding these data limits, and those who do will still be able to access important services such as email and website browsing, but will have file downloading restricted.
“Customers who have a need for higher volumes of data will be encouraged to take up a separate mobile broadband plan. We are confident that these changes will result in a better experience for all of our customers who use internet on their phone.”
While the 200MB average limit is touted around, lots of us use more than that. Add developments in mobile apps across platforms to the capabilities of our smartphones, and the result is that we’ll only ever be wanting more data.
What do you think? Are you tempted to head over to Three’s unlimited data?
[Thanks for the tip Ian!]
