The millions of T-Mobile unlimited data plan customers who get a standard Netflix account as a benefit are facing a price hike or service downgrade, after Netflix raised its prices earlier this year.
T-Mobile began offering the free Netflix promotion in 2017, giving its unlimited customers a “standard” account that allowed two simultaneous video streams. But in January, Netflix raised the price of a standard account by $2 a month. At the time, T-Mobile customers got to keep their deal.
T-Mobile has been covering the Netflix hike on its own, but will soon start passing on the higher cost to customers. So starting in July, T-Mobile (TMUS) unlimited customers will either have to downgrade to a “basic” Netflix (NFLX) account, which includes only one stream at a time, or pay an extra $2 per month on their wireless bill.
T-Mobile also said it was renaming its unlimited plans to “Magenta” from “T-Mobile One.”
In an enhancement, T-Mobile said regular unlimited plan customers can now share the data connection from their phone with a laptop or other device and use 3 GB of data per month at 4G LTE speeds, which can reach download speeds of 50 megabits per second or higher. Previously, customers using the hotspot feature were limited to 3G speeds which typically do not exceed 512 kilobits per second.
In a bid to attract more switchers, T-Mobile also announced a new promotion to match discounts given by its rivals AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Customers at any of those carriers who get a discount, say for being in the military or being a senior citizen, can switch to T-Mobile and get the same or better discount on their new T-Mobile plan. The discount match is limited to $15 per month for one line and $30 for two or more lines.
“Before the Un-carrier, people were locked into annual service contracts and financing plans, and we changed all that,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a statement. “Now, we’re freeing millions more. Lose your Carrier, keep your discount!”
