T-Mobile customers who have been on older phone plans are about to be moved to the carrier’s latest plans, whether they want to move or not. And in most cases, that will mean a price increase of up to $6 per line.
Some of the affected plans go back 10 to 15 years, including Simple Choice, T-Mobile One, One Plus and the Magenta family of plans, as well as Sprint’s upgraded plans that continued there. IT-Mobile and Sprint have merged in 2020. A T-Mobile representative did not share which plans are being discontinued, but Mobile Report created a spreadsheet of the changes based on its findings.
The change is expected to take effect from this week. Exact offer dates depend on customers’ billing cycles — new plans should appear on their next bill. Affected subscribers, including small businesses, should have received the news via text or the T-Life app. You can also visit T-Mobile’s rate migration page, which requires you to sign in to your account, to check the details of your new plan.
Each affected customer is moved to a “like-for-like” plan with the same features as their current plan. For example, CNET’s partner One Plan TE plan will be Experience More with Appreciation Savings. You’ll get unlimited high-speed 5G and 4G LTE data, 60GB of mobile hotspot data, Netflix Standard (with ads) and video streaming up to 4K UHD. However, Apple TV Plus, included for six months through the Apple TV on Us promotion, will cost $3 a month.
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The screenshots show a CNET colleague moving T-Mobile’s plan from the discontinued One Plan TE to the new Hear More with the Thank You Savings plan.
Experience More With Appreciation Savings is a special program for moving customers; if he were to switch to the regular Experience More plan, he would end up paying a higher price. So far, except for the optional Apple TV fee, it seems that his monthly expenses will not increase with the move.
In addition, customers are reporting online that the T-Mobile Kickback program, which offers credit if you use less than 2GB of data per month, is being discontinued along with plans. Lines that currently do not have old promotions will remain free.
It is not unusual for companies to take the initiative to move people away from old systems. AT&T added a fee on some of its legacy plans in May, and T-Mobile is adding higher prices March 2025. The difference here is that T-Mobile is taking action directly and automatically, as opposed to encouraging its customers to upgrade.
Allan Samson, T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer, explained during a press conference before the announcement that “nothing is required of the customer, and it will happen.”
He said the legacy plans will be transferred to modern plans similar to the current plan, which includes Essentials, Essentials Saver, Experience Over, Experience Beyond and Better Value. That will bring more features such as expanded international roaming, premium 5G speeds and greater hotspot data than available on their old plan.
For customers who see a price increase, “the price they will pay in most cases will still be less than what the system sells for today,” Samson said. “We don’t raise it to the rack rate” that a new customer will pay.
If you’ve been moved to a new plan and aren’t happy with the one that was chosen for you, your only options will be to buy a new T-Mobile plan or look for a new provider.
Modernizing internal systems
At the heart of the movement is the need to reduce complexity in the company’s internal systems.
In an internal email sent to employees and obtained by CNET, T-Mobile Chief Operating Officer Jon Freier noted that the program rollout wipes out more than 1,100 legacy payment codes. “Simplifying the program mix means more resources and focus on delivering the outstanding experience we’re known for,” he wrote.
Samson explained that like any software or hardware company, there comes a time when the need to modernize outweighs the cost of continuing support and backward compatibility testing.
“A rating system is a snapshot of the capacity and capability of your network at that time,” said Samson, referring to the limited network capacity when the old systems were in operation. “Fifteen years ago, you checked the weather and maybe your stock report and that was about it. Today we stream 4K movies.”
IT-Mobile expects that a change like this, where customers are being moved to new systems whether they like it or not, will require additional support that the company is prepared for.
In his letter to employees, Freier admitted that “for our front teams … although the near future will bring an increase in the volume of communication with customers, we are sure that this application will make your work easier in the long run.”