T-Mobile is making headlines again with a new upgrade for their prepaid customers. About three months ago, T-Mobile offered a new plan that allowed non-prepaid customers the ability to roll over any unused 4G LTE data. Now it seems this is available to prepaid customers as well!
T-Mobile stated in their blog:
This month, we’re taking Data Stash even further. I’m happy to announce that, starting Sunday March 22nd, Data Stash will start rolling out to Simple Choice prepaid customers. Every single one of our prepaid voice customers with a qualifying Simple Choice plan will start out with a Starter Stash with up to 10 GB of 4G LTE data. And when that’s all used up, they’ll start rolling forward their unused data for use up to a full year. Automatically… and at no extra charge.
So how does this really work? Simply put, if you do not use your data for the month, that data gets stashed into your Data Stash account. If you get data-happy one month and you use all the data allotted that month, you start eating into the data in your “Data Stash” without having to deal with those expensive data overage charges.
According to T-Mobile, there are three reasons why they did this. First, customers wanted it. T-Mobile was asked by more than 40,000 customers to keep any unused data each month. Second, it’s the ‘right’ thing to do. T-Mobile appears to be turning a new leaf when it comes to customer satisfaction by saying it is “flat out wrong to repossess something your costumers have.” Third, it’s not rocket science. T-Mobile is ‘calling out’ other carriers with their Data Stash plan to “do the right thing.” Their is an interesting tactic that may not sit well with other carriers. Here is what they said:
“But, Andrew,” you say, “AT&T responded with Data Rollover.” I’m looking for a serious response. AT&T’s Data Rollover means they wait an extra 30 days to repossess your data. That is not a serious response − no matter how many billions they spend on TV ads about it.
And Verizon? Verizon actually said they won’t do what customers want because − to quote their CFO − “We are a leader, not a follower.” So they’re basically going to ignore their customers, fairness and common sense out of corporate pride? I think Verizon has, remarkably, reached a new level of arrogance.
Oh, thems fightin’ words! While T-Mobile has a good case when it comes to other carriers not offering a solid plan to utilize unused data, they may be playing be playing with fire in the way they are expressing it. Directly calling out other carriers is probably not the most tactful of tactics; being this aggressive could have repercussions. However, if it means other carriers will offer more competitive service offerings, we support it by all means.
With that said, do you think T-Mobile is will take any heat for their strong statements? Or does the industry really need a change and a “T-Mobile” to evangelize it? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.