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T-Mobile (USA) new "Data Stash" tariff-data rolls over each month


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Old 17-12-2014, 07:46
Silent No More
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I'm liking (although I have to confess I haven't checked the "small print") the look of this.

Instead of Unlimited data, they give you a limited amount of data (10 gig?) each month, but allow it to roll over to the next month.

They (rightly) IMO) make the point that you wouldn't allow the garage to take back any unused fuel at the end of each month, before charging you for another full tank!

Today in a live interview T-Mobile CEO John Legere has made his eighth major announcement in their line of Uncarrier programs that try to differentiate them from the business practices of the other major US carriers. Legere described Uncarrier 8.0 as the biggest change they have made so far, and based on how big of a shift it is from how cellular data plans currently work I'm inclined to agree with him.

The big feature being introduced with Uncarrier 8.0 is called Data Stash. As you know, when you pay for a certain amount of data from your cellular carrier, that data bucket is only good for your monthly billing cycle. If you have 3GB remaining at the end of your cycle, that data is lost when your next cycle begins. Data Stash allows users to keep their high speed data that they have unused at the end of the month, which allows them to have a greater amount of high speed data for future months. This is similar to how some prepaid carriers have operated for many years by letting users carry their minutes over to later months. Users should be aware that data will only remain valid for a year, but because it is continually rolling over every month this should not be much of an issue except for users who hope to save up in order to turn their LTE service into their home internet.

Legere has also stated that new customers will be given 10GB in their Data Stash for free. Later on in the interview Legere is now discussed various topics, including T-Mobile's network expansion, 15 MHz FDD-LTE, and subscriber numbers
Personally, I don't think many people "need" unlimited data & tethering for a mobile phone.

They may want it and like the feeling of never having to worry about exceeding data caps, even though they rarely downloaded huge amounts (that was me), but unlimited data is the new holy grail, just like more minutes than your tariff allowed was a few years ago (not to mention being able to use your mobile to (gasp) ring a different network! ) and it's clearly not sustainable.

So this offer from T-Mobile, gives you a new way of rolling your data over each month, which while it isn't unlimited, it does give you a nice 'cushion', should you need a chunk of data later down the line.

For example, I was on 3's One Plan, with unlimited data & tethering for £15 per month. I test drove one of those EE 100 go SIMs the other day and decided pretty much straight away to move to EE.

I did umm and err about giving up my unlimited tethering, but when I looked into it, I discovered that I really didn't use that much and my peak usage one month was 6 gig!

I use Spotify Premium and most of my music is stored offline. I do listen to radio daily, but I've been really surprised at my data usage.

I've now had the SIM in my phone for a full 8 days and have used a grand total of 1.2GB (which included tethering my iPad for the best part of a couple of hours the other morning, while I was waiting for my car to be serviced).

Now, I appreciate my usage doesn't apply to everyone, but I do think there's a genuine need to separate "need" from "want" when it comes to unlimited data, especially as it appears that 3 have started the ball rolling when it comes to removal of the unlimited tethering.

I wonder if any of the UK networks will follow T-Mob USA's lead and offer rolling data (albeit with perhaps lower monthly amounts?

http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/data-stash-data-roll.html

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8787/t...-80-data-stash
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Old 17-12-2014, 09:07
ash45
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I like this idea it dose give a bit more value for money as well as when you are paying for a set DATA amount but dont use it one month it kinda dose feel like your losing out as it just vanishes, With unlimited mins/texts/data its not the same as its always endless (well FUP) so you feel your always getting your money out of it no matter what you use,

You are right about the more want/need though for unlimited data, When i was with three till about 3 month ago my average data was about 30-40gig give or take with no tethering, That is because i never ever used wifi literally from the day three put AYCE data as an option right until a few month ago wifi was never on except on the very rare occasion i couldn't get a signal (my uncles house his house seams to block signal on every network unless you stand in the garden lol), I used to just let all my apps update over 3G and i watch a lot of netflix / spotify/now TV as i have a 3 hour combined commute to/from work, But since switching to o2 and only having a 5gb allowance ive actually only used a max of 3gig so far because i have wifi on all the time, At home/work/family they all have wifi, and even 95% of the time i have wifi on the bus i get and even in a lot of public places its there so now i use way less mobile data,
I guess the point im kind of getting at is because of the wide spread of wifi you really dont need massive amounts of mobile data though it is nice to have a nice little chunk just encase - think 5-10gig is more than enough even for those with odd tethering use

Ash
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Old 17-12-2014, 17:31
DevoidDroid
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I know a lot of tariffs in the US do include unlimited data. High Speed up to your allowance then capped speed (EDGE equivalent) after that.
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