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T-Mobile No Longer Offering 'Free Data For Life' Offer For New Tablets (tmonews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the there-ain't-no-such-thing-as-a-free-lunch dept.

T-Mobile has quietly killed off its "free data for life" offer for new tablets. In a statement provided to TmoNews, T-Mobile said: "When we launched Free Data For Life in 2013, 200MB of high-speed data was a lot. Today, customers want unlimited and we're all in with T-Mobile ONE. Customers who have T-Mobile ONE can add unlimited LTE data on a tablet for just $20 a month with autopay. Nothing changes for current customers with Free Data For Life on a tablet. They can keep it as long as they like." From the report: T-Mobile has updated its Free Data for Life support page to say that the program is no longer available for new activations as of May 7, 2017. The Free Data for Life program was attractive because it let you get a bit of cellular data on your tablet every month, even if you weren't a T-Mobile customer. This was nice for people that were ultra-light tablet data users, and it gave customers of other carriers a taste of T-Mo. The good news is that at least anyone that signed up before May 7 can still get their free data every 30 days, so long as they own their tablet.

You can compare cell phone plans including T-Mobile plans at Wirefly.


40 comments

  1. Well ain't that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...about a bitch

    1. Re:Well ain't that... by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      $20 a month? Is this some new definition of Free I wasn't previously aware of?

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re: Well ain't that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uhh. Try giving that there summary another read.

  2. They can keep it as long as they like by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    heard that before

    1. Re:They can keep it as long as they like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "after we rate limited them to 10 bytes an hour, it seems they don't like it anymore... per terms, contract is now terminated."

    2. Re:They can keep it as long as they like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      heard that before

      Tablets will eventually die, and as the offer was always limited to the specific tablet, this is a time limited issue for T-Mobile for all practical purposes.

      I do wonder if a repair (which ends up getting a new IMEI) will be able to be transferred.

  3. Darn. by sims+2 · · Score: 2

    I still quite like it.
    On the older ipads (like the ipad 4 i'm using now) you can only pick up t-mobile's EDGE service so 200MB is effectively unlimited.

    On the newer ipad's (like an ipad air 2 I had the chance to play with) you can burn through the whole 200MB in about 40 seconds if your not careful.

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:Darn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My 4G can burn through a gig of data in about 5 minutes under ideal conditions. This is not acceptable. Carriers need to be forced into offering unlimited data, both monthlies and PAYG.

    2. Re:Darn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Idiot much? If you want unlimited just pay for it.

  4. Find My iPad by Chrontius · · Score: 1

    Worth getting if only so Find My iGadget worked. Definitely a killer app for this service.

    I just hope it goes back to working on my iPad when the data pass I bought for a period of heavy use expires.

    It would be amazing if I could keep migrating to ever-newer devices by moving the Apple SIM from device to device...

    1. Re:Find My iPad by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      IIUC it's not supposed to work that way but the apple sim may work different idk.

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    2. Re:Find My iPad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if I could keep migrating to ever-newer devices by moving the Apple SIM from device to device...

      The Apple SIM is soldered to the board. I think moving it would be an interesting exercise...

    3. Re:Find My iPad by Chrontius · · Score: 1
      I'm sorry, you're wrong. The Apple SIM is an "E-Sim on a card" if I had to describe it. You can swap them around, and I frequently used to.

      The Apple SIM is known as a Removable SIM with Remote Provisioning[3] – it is a special SIM card that may be configured with different operator profiles. This is contrast to an embedded SIM (which is not removable) and may also be remotely provisioned. It appears that Apple have begun to include both types of SIM in their newer devices.[4]"

  5. Love T-Mobile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    However, I unsuccessfully tried to get my 200 Megs on a tablet I bought from them 6 different times. Each time, they fucked it up. I finally gave up.

  6. Goodbye Trust by ohnocitizen · · Score: 0

    T-Mobile's only real selling point is being different from - better than - Verizon. If they start walking back what they offer, what's to stop them from doing it in other areas? Why switch?

    1. Re:Goodbye Trust by gweilo8888 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They're not walking back from what they offered. They never promised to offer this plan to new customers forever, and existing customers' plans continue to be honored. Where's your problem?

    2. Re:Goodbye Trust by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      To my knowledge, they've never walked back from offers.

      I've been a customer for over ten years now, and for the majority of the time, I've been on plans not offered at the time.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    3. Re:Goodbye Trust by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey geek, don't worry, plenty of single Russian beauties are just waiting for you. They are looking for love.

    4. Re: Goodbye Trust by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They promised me they would walk back on the deal and they didn't, they honored it. That walking back on a deal if I've ever heard of it!

    5. Re: Goodbye Trust by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that like failing to fail?

  7. Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Jhon · · Score: 3, Informative

    For about $0.99 plus shipping you can get a freedompop unlimited SIM. Their customer service sucks but it's effectively 200 MBs every month for free (just remember to cancel all "promotional" services before the first month ends. You can also hit the forums and exchange email addresses with other freedompop customers to become "Freedompop Friends". Each "friend" basically gets you another 50 MB per month up to an additional 500 MB for a total of 700 MB.

    I have one in my iPad mini and it works great.

    FP wont be around as long as ATT -- but I've used their services for a few years now and expect them to be around at least a few more before they go belly up or sell their customers. So, for a buck and a bit more I get 700 MBs data. And I can move the sim to any other device I want whenever I want.

    1. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by tricorn · · Score: 1

      Freedompop has service through either Sprint or AT&T networks, depending on your device. You get 200MB/month on AT&T or 500MB on Sprint.

      You really need to pay close attention to what you'really signed up for and check your billing regularly, but they do refund without much fuss when they screw up, once you figure out how to open a ticket.

      They make money by up-selling hard with dire warnings of what you're losing or risking by downgrading, and they have a weird auto-charge auto-top policy you need to pay close attention to that kicks in when you get within 100MB of your limit, but for low usage even that isn't too bad.

      They also offer free VOIP phone service which works pretty well (200 minutes/month). It works differently depending on if you have a SIM from them and if it's data-only.

      They also sell used equipment, phones, tablets, hotspots, sometimes at very good prices. They WILL up sell you though, be prepared.

      They do take Paypal, btw.

    2. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My experience is that they STILL try to charge your account even if you uncheck all the options. Expect to go through customer service hell once by default.

    3. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looks like it's gone up to $9.99 Plus shipping.

    4. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Jhon · · Score: 1

      I don't know where you are looking but I still see $0.99.

      https://www.freedompop.com/off...

      Maybe you are looking at their GLOBAL sim? Works in several EU countries as well as the North America?

    5. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Jhon · · Score: 1

      They've gotten better on not "screwing up" in the first place.

    6. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Jhon · · Score: 1

      They also have service through a UK/EU provider on their Global SIM product. Latancy in the US not great (like 400-500) but it's pretty stable. I was driving through Sequoia National Forrest my Global SIM phone (unlocked Iphone 5c) was the last to loose connectivity and the first to get it back. It beat verizon and ATT (other phones with our group).

    7. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very funny. The way you described it is for anyone to get sucked in and pay at minimum $15 fee.
      Don't get me wrong, it's a great service. I use it on 3 iPhones. But it requires a lot of effort to navigate small print for it to actually be free.

      Total will be $0.99 + $5. $5 is to stop auto top-up, otherwise it will auto-top up $15 from your linked credit card as soon as you are within 100 MB of allotment.

      For anyone considering signing up for this I encourage you to go to slickdeals and do some reading up. Especially if you want AT&T version. Currently they still have unpatched "glitch" where you can't unsibscribe from premium service unless you go to hidden URL.

      Very shady company. But hey, it's free as long as you stay diligent.

    8. Re:Freedompop Unlimited SIM on ATT by Jhon · · Score: 1

      It requires some diligence but not as crazy as you suggest. The $5 to stop auto top-up is news to me. Must be new. All my services have it' turned off and it was free to turn it off when I did so.

  8. free data for life offer by strstr · · Score: 0

    actually this offer isn't exclusive. freedompop offers customers 200MB data free, plus a certain amount of text messages and minutes standard on every SIM card.

    obamasweapon.com

  9. 200MB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Back in 2013, 200MB wasn't a lot.

  10. ...was a lot. by EmyrDerfel · · Score: 1

    "When we launched Free Data For Life in 2013, 200MB of high-speed data was a lot." No, it wasn't. 200MB/month was a lot in 2003, not 2013.

    1. Re:...was a lot. by D00MSlayer · · Score: 1

      I'm surprised there aren't more comments in here about that line. Who the fuck thinks 200MB is a lot in the age of smartphones and tablets? I can burn that in a few hours of youtube videos.

    2. Re:...was a lot. by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but IMHO it wasn't "intended" to be for a lot of usage. It was to give you "the first one for free" to hopefully make you want to pay for a higher limit plan.

      I use it just to have podcasts keep downloading, e.g. even when it's in my car (before I go to the gym).. I still end up using the full 200 MB before the end of the month, but the "freebie" was still worth it for me to pay for the cell hardware in the first place.

      (I had thought they might creep up the free amount as years go by, but wasn't expecting it.)

  11. Typo by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    " Nothing changes for current customers with Free Data For Life on a tablet. They can keep it as long as they like."

    There's a typo in there, it should read 'as long as they liVe.'

  12. Can T-Mobile subscribers tether with unlimited? by tepples · · Score: 1

    First, U.S. carriers price unlimited cellular Internet such that one would have to give up home Internet to afford it. Second, U.S. carriers impose a surcharge for each additional device to discourage people from using unlimited cellular Internet to replace wired home Internet, such as the tethering surcharge of $14.99 per month. Third, T-Mobile appears to be hiding its dedicated mobile broadband devices, as opposed to buying a smartphone and then upgrading from a voice- and text-only plan to a plan including unlimited data. Fourth, T-Mobile's website uses so many CPU-intensive scripts that I find it slow and cumbersome to navigate to find how deprioritization after 20-30 GB or thereabouts interacts with tethering.

    1. Re:Can T-Mobile subscribers tether with unlimited? by Cytotoxic · · Score: 1

      I switched to T-Mobile a couple of years back to take advantage of their promotions at the time. We have 3 phone lines and they gave us two tablet lines for free (with free tablets. Jeez T-mobile.. run that promo again!). All unlimited.

      Tethering is included. So far I haven't seen any significant issues with throttling with my kids using their Kindles and old android phones tethered. Netflix, Amazon Video and Youtube seem to run fine tethered under their plans - and on a cell phone or 7 inch tablet you can't notice their recompression artifacts. I've had 3 tablets streaming simultaneously on one hotspot and it worked just fine. The kids were watching youtube videos, so it might not be as friendly with 3 high-def Netflix movies.

  13. Say what you mean by Neuronwelder · · Score: 2

    Free used to mean free. Not partially free. Not somewhat free. Not free with pending charges. Sheesh!

  14. Samsung S8+ by nanospook · · Score: 1

    Tabby what? I'm fine with my phone..

    --
    Have you fscked your local propeller head today?