T-Mobile Announces Uncarrier 8.0: Data Stash
by Brandon Chester on December 16, 2014 10:33 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
- T-Mobile
- Uncarrier
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.
Source: T-Mobile Uncarrier 8.0 Stream
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anandreader106 - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
T-Mobile, you simply rock!JeffFlanagan - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
This reassures me that ditching AT&T and subscribing to T-mobile was a good choice.headbox - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
I went from AT&T to T-Mobile and the coverage is a lot worse :(makerofthegames - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. The only dead space I've found so far was ten miles inside a national park, itself already miles from civilization. Verizon still had minimal coverage, but T-Mobile was extremely spotty.However, normally I just sit in the city, where I have no coverage issues.
nathanddrews - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
We switched from Sprint 2 years ago and have never looked back. It's so much better AND cheaper.Samus - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Funny, I switched from T-Mobile to Sprint (Ting, actually) and had the complete opposite experience. But in Chicago it's unanimously known T-Mobile is complete garbage...I just finally got fed up with it, and at the time, Sprints LTE and WiMax networks were far superior to T-mobile's 3G HSPA+ network. As far as cost, I'm spending roughly the same amount of money for 4 lines on Ting as I did with T-Mobile, without a contract and including the cost of new phones over two years.The only problem is when I travel...Sprint is known to be crap in San Francisco, and boy is it true. EDGE 1x everywhere.
Hrel - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
I switched from Sprint to Tmobile in Spring 2014 and am MUCH happier, also live near Chicago. Obviously coverage in the city is amazing, but that's true on every network. The UP of Michigan though? Sprint had NO coverage at all, Tmo does. Wifi calling is included for free. I'm in Germany right now and have free data and texting included with my plan. Music doesn't use up data and now my data rolls over? Sprint can't compete at all.Also, Tmobile plans start at $30/month, check the prepaid site. It's not easy to spot, but it's about 3/4 down the page, and you have to activate the phone over a phone call, but then you're good.
Solandri - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
Technically, Sprint has had free wifi calling longer than T-Mobile. Sprint integrated Google Voice some years back - your Sprint number is also your Google Voice number. The problem before was that there was no obvious way to use Google Voice to make calls (over wifi) without third party VoIP apps and a lot of setup.That changed a few months ago when Google integrated Google Voice into Hangouts. You can now make VoIP calls using your Sprint number via Hangouts. I've used it over wifi, LTE, and the occasional 3G service area which has decent speeds. It's very handy when I need to make service calls to 800 numbers and expect to be on hold a long time - it doesn't eat up my minutes anymore (Sprint has unlimited mobile to mobile calling, but 800 numbers are always landlines). The only problem I've encountered is receiving VoIP calls - both Hangouts and the phone's regular dialer respond to an incoming call, but the regular dialer overlays Hangouts and I'm unable to actually answer the call with VoIP. I have to answer it using the regular dialer. This can be a problem if you're in a poor Sprint service area that has wifi.
nafhan - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
My coverage is worse. However, I switched 5 lines over from Verizon and I'm saving $100+ a month. I also have 2.5GB per line instead of 4GB shared for all 5 lines (which was terrible). Unlimited music streaming is a nice bonus, too. It's been more than worth it for me. Plus Verizon just increased their ETF's.epakrat - Tuesday, December 16, 2014 - link
Switched from AT&T to T-Mobile and the coverage has been comparable while the data speed has blow away my previous expectations.