T-Mobile has touted its low-cost 5G plan for months now, but had always maintained that the service wouldn’t be available until after their merger with Sprint was finalized. Well, the world doesn’t look the same as it did a few weeks ago. As people are adapting to life in the COVID-19 era, so too are companies.
T-Mobile announced that they are launching their new $15-per-month 5G plan ahead of schedule in an effort to help people stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic. This service is branded as T-Mobile Connect.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere released a statement about this new service plan. “Right now, having a reliable, low-cost connection is absolutely crucial for Americans, and with many facing financial strain, time is of the essence,” reads the statement. “We knew we couldn’t wait for the merger to finalize to launch T-Mobile Connect, our lowest priced smartphone plan, so we’re rolling out ahead of schedule.”
T-Mobile Connect includes unlimited talk and text, 2GB of data and access to T-Mobiles 5G network. All of that, and it’s the carrier’s most affordable plan. There is however an important caveat to consider before switching over. Users of this plan can only take advantage of the 5G speeds if they have one of T-Mobile’s 5G capable phones.
That’s the biggest hurdle facing widespread consumer adoption of 5G at this point—getting 5G-capable devices in the hands of the average consumer. The networks are there for most Americans, and more 5G networks are going up or expanding every day. Now, people need to invest in the admittedly pricey 5G-capable devices that are currently available. As those devices become more affordable, we’ll begin to see larger numbers of people connecting to 5G networks.
T-Mobile and Sprint are still set to merge in the near future. The merger is in the final stages of approval, but most everyone is in agreement that it is going to happen. When that merger is finalized we can expect to see a slew of new services and packages from the carrier.
T-Mobile Connect is set to officially launch on 3/25 for customers in the United States.
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