They call it Connect by T-Mobile.
It’s a monthly prepaid plan from T-Mobile that includes 1000 minutes of talk, 1000 texts, and 1GB of data per month.
For just $10 a month?
That’s a deal!
It gets better. Since it’s a prepaid plan, there’s no contract, and no credit check. You don’t have to be a senior, a veteran, or a member of any particular organization or business, to qualify.
And it’s prepaid monthly. You don’t have to pay a year up front or anything like that.
If you go up to the next level of T-Mobile Connect – the $15/month plan, you get unlimited talk and texts, and 3GB of data. This is the plan I currently use.
T-Mobile also offers a $25/month plan with 6GB of data, and a $35/month plan with 12GB of data, with unlimited talk and texts.
There’s no ‘activation fee’ either, though in some cases a $10 SIM starter kit might be needed.
And no other fees.
With taxes, the actual cost for my $15/month plan has been $16.38/month. It’s billed to my debit card and I get a text each month when it is processed.
If you are on the $15 or $25 levels, there’s also a bonus. For every year you continue on the plan, T-Mobile bumps your data allowance up a half a gigabyte. This continues until 2025.
This is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) plan. In other words, the plan does not include a phone.
You can either use your current phone, if it is compatible with T-Mobile’s network, or buy a new one (again, make sure it’s T-Mobile compatible).
Both T-Mobile and AT&T are GSM based. If you have a phone that was previously on AT&T, it will most likely work.
Sprint and Verizon are CDMA based, so most older Sprint and Verizon phones won’t work.
However, many newer phones can use either GSM or CDMA, and may be compatible regardless of which network they were on previously.
T-Mobile has a phone compatibility checker here.
If you are going to be using a phone you’ve used on another network in the past, you will also need to make sure it is unlocked.
Carriers are required to unlock your phone if is is fully paid for. AT&T phones that have been paid off can be unlocked through their site. Verizon automatically unlocks phones bought through them 60 days after purchase.
That’s about it.
Connect by T-Mobile is a simple, straight forward, inexpensive phone plan. I’ve been using it for over a year and there have been no surprises.
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