T-Mobile is kicking off a new piece of its ongoing “Uncarrier” initiative. Starting in May, the carrier will eliminate overage charges for its customers, regardless of their cellular plan. The Magenta network is also throwing down a challenge to its competitors to do the same.
With this move, T-Mobile is abolishing those additional charges that are levied when a customer exceeds their available minutes or allotted data for their cellular plan. These extra calling minutes or gigabytes of data are charged at a much higher rate and can easily add hundreds of dollars on to a customer’s base monthly bill.
T-Mobile estimates that consumers paid up to $1 billion in overage penalties last year.
“Charging overage fees is a greedy, predatory practice that needs to go,” continued T-Mobile activist CEO John Legere. “Starting in May for bills arriving in June – regardless of whether you’re on Simple Choice, Simple Starter or an older plan, we’re abolishing overages for good. Period.”
Legere has also started an online petition that asks AT&T, Verizon and Sprint to end overage fees, exclaiming that they are “no longer welcomed in this industry.”
T-Mobile has been on a continuing campaign to shake up the wireless industry in the U.S. via a series of promotions, stunts, and policy changes, which include ETF buyouts for customers who switch to T-Mobile, early upgrades, and no-contract plans.
