With T-Mobile’s new Simple Choice plans, what will happen to existing international plans?
When we first reported about the upcoming changes to T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plans, coming March 23, most people were concerned about data. And as it turns out, existing customers have nothing to worry about! Those who are currently getting 500MB and 2.5GB will be automatically bumped up to 1GB and 3GB respectively, and those with $70 unlimited plans will be able to keep them for as long as they want.
But what about existing international plans?
One aspect of the change that’s not getting as much press is that customers on all Simple Choice plans will now be able to text almost every country in the world for free – unlimited international texting will soon be a part of T-Mobile’s current plans. Presumably, this means that customers who currently subscribe to the $7/month Stateside International Text plan will automatically have that plan dropped from their monthly bills, as it will now automatically be included at no extra cost.
But look at T-Mobile’s other international plans:
- Stateside International Talk – $7.00/month (provides discounted international calling, versus regular rates)
- Stateside International Talk & Text – $10.00/month (provides unlimited international calling to landlines in certain destinations, and discounted calling to other areas, along with unlimited international text)
- Stateside International Talk & Text with mobile – $15.00/mo ((provides unlimited international calling to landlines and cell phones in certain destinations, and discounted calling to other areas, along with unlimited international text)
It’s currently unknown what will happen with these options. But it seems to me that the last two should be discounted, since international text is now included. In fact, the first plan – Stateside International Talk – seems completely useless, since the discounted rates aren’t even that great. Perhaps we’ll see Stateside International Talk upgraded to include unlimited landline calling for $7, and Stateside International Talk with Mobile discounted to $10/month. That seems most reasonable to me, but what do I know?
We’ll know for sure what’s happening soon enough!
