T-Mobile launched new mobile plans this week by announcing “Nothing,” referring to the new EIP Flex 36 installment plan, with which you can get a new device for zero money down, not even taxes on the phone.
But nothing is also what’s available if you wanted to sign up for T-Mobile’s recent
plan, which the company rolled out in January and just removed on Tuesday when it launched its “2.0” plans.
From the start, Better Value was listed as a limited-time offer, but T-Mobile never provided an end date. It was last available on T-Mobile’s site on Monday, as shown by the
“Our Better Value plan was a limited-time offer for eligible customers,” a T-Mobile spokesperson said. “Nothing changes for current customers on the plan. With the launch of our new plans, that offer is no longer available to new customers.”
Those currently on the Better Value plan won’t see any change unless they choose to switch to a
, such as the similar Experience More 2.0 plan, if they want to take advantage of the new 36-month financing options.
The Better Value plan was very close to the existing Experience More plan, including the price at $140 for three lines, for example. They both included unlimited high-speed 5G data and T-Mobile’s five-year price guarantee.
But a few other features of Better Value were superior to Experience More. You got 250GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data, compared to 60GB. T-Mobile’s highest tier plan, Experience Beyond 2.0, includes unlimited high-speed hotspot data.
to Canada and Mexico, the amount of high-speed data was a more generous 30GB versus the 15GB of Experience More. Better Value also had T-Satellite service included, whereas that’s a $10 add-on with Experience More.
However, Better Value also had a few serious requirements that seemed designed to pull customer groups from other carriers.
For people switching, it required signing up for three or more lines, two of which had to be eligible numbers ported to the new plan. Existing T-Mobile customers could sign up for Better Value, but they had to have been on a T-Mobile postpaid plan for at least five years.
Jeff Carlson writes about mobile technology at CNET, from cellular phone plans to devices and emerging technology.
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