Will unlimited data plans soon be a thing of the past?
While the unlimited data plan has long been unavailable for new customers at large carriers like AT&T and Verizon, one smaller company is ditching the option in favor of a unique alternative.
Republic Wireless is a mobile virtual network operator that offers service using the Sprint network across the United States. And the company has retired its unlimited data plan to offer something that should definitely get your attention.
At the end of the monthly billing cycle, Republic will refund any part of the data plan purchased but not used.
The company talked more about the new initiative to Re/Code:
“You are seeing more competition,” Republic Senior Vice President Jon Schniepp said in an interview. “I think we’ve spurred some of that. Regardless of whether we get the credit, I think it’s good for customers.”
For $25 per month, Republic customers can receive 1GB of data while a 2GB plan costs $40 monthly. Any extra data would cost $15 per GB. All the options include unlimited texting and calling, and users don’t need to sign a contract.
Unfortunately, Republic doesn’t currently offer any iPhones, only two Motorola handsets – the Moto X and Moto G. But I hope that other carriers that do offer the iPhone might create similar plans in the future.
Currently, AT&T and T-Mobile do allow users to carry over data from month to month with some caveats. I’ve been using my iPhone on Verizon for a while, and my data usage has always been a struggle.
Thankfully, Verizon does allow users to shift their data plans up and down each month without any issue. But it annoys me to pick an expensive plan for the month and not use all of the data I paid for. I would love to pay a set fee per month for a sufficient amount of data and receive money back for any part I don’t use. What do you think?
For other news today, see: Watch ‘Ray Donovan’ on Showtime Anytime, without cable TV, These 6 basic features are missing from Apple Music, and New Apple Watch Tinder app could let you follow your heart.