From CNET: T-Mobile wants the industry to drop the practice of overage fees.
Capping off a flurry of news, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said he is kicking off a campaign to abolish the fees that are charged when a customers go over their allotted voice minutes, data, or text messages. T-Mobile largely eliminated them with its Simple Choice plans, which offered unlimited voice and text messages, and data that was throttled.
T-Mobile is up and roaring after a relatively quiet few months, unveiling a series of new programs designed to entice consumers to make the switch and needling its competitors along the way. As the No. 4 nationwide carrier, the company has had to put on a brash face to garner attention and combat its larger competitors' more extensive marketing reach.
Legere said he was committing to ending overage fees to all of its customers on consumer plans.
"The Uncarrier is eliminating one of the most widely despised wireless industry practices for all of our T-Mobile customers on consumer plans," he said. "And I'm also laying down a challenge to my counterparts at AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, to do the same."
This latest move is a direct call to action its three rivals. The campaign includes a petition at Change.org.
Spokesmen for the three carriers weren't immediately available to comment.
Because of the way the new plans are designed, consumers signing up for a new plan on the other carriers aren't charged overage fees for text messages and voice minutes, as they are part of an unlimited package. But customers will pay extra if they go over their data allotment at Verizon and AT&T. Sprint likewise already offered unlimited plans that have largely eliminated overage fees.
T-Mobile kicked things off on Wednesday with its $40 Simple Starter plan, a budget offering for people with basic phones or who use limited data. The main selling point was a plan that capped off at 500 megabytes, with no overage fees (a customer has the option to buy more data). It then added a free 1 gigabyte of data each month to tablet customers for one year (customers who are also on a voice plan pay $10 a month after 12 months, while customers who aren't on a plan pay $20).
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