Month: March 2024

Abstract icon representing the idea of a refresh or an update

Visible+ Plan Gets Updates

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Visible just made three upgrades to its Visible+ plan:

  • Hotspot speeds doubled (now 10Mbps)
  • Smartwatch support is now included with no extra charge
  • One free Global Pass day per month

The plan’s regular price of $45 per month is unchanged. However, these upgrades may lead Visible to run fewer promotions that bring the plan’s cost down. Several times in the last year, the Visible+ plan was available for only $35.

Reflections

Most people won’t use the no-cost smartwatch service, but it’ll mean $5-$10 per month in savings for people who would have purchased a smartwatch service plan. I wonder if we’ll eventually see other players in the industry offer the same perk. Once carriers have the infrastructure to support cellular smartwatches, the incremental cost of providing connectivity for a watch should be awfully low.

The old hotspot speed of 5Mbps on Visible plans was acceptable, but 10Mbps may offer tangible improvements for people running their laptops’ internet over cellular hotspot connections.

The monthly Global Pass is good for 24 hours of roaming service in over 140 countries and territories. Service includes calls, texts, and up to 2GB of full-speed data. It’s a good perk, but subscribers can’t bank multiple passes over multiple months. Realistically, a one-day pass will be insufficient for most international trips.

Abstract representing the idea of an update or a refresh

Major US Mobile Updates

Christian Leave a comment

US Mobile, a carrier running over Verizon and T-Mobile’s networks, just released a huge update. Full details can be found in an announcement on Reddit. Here are the aspects I found most interesting:

  • A new (and very appealing) Unlimited Flex plan
  • Added support for two-factor authentication via authenticator apps
  • Enhanced network transfer options
  • Hints about an upcoming AT&T-based service

Unlimited Flex Plan

The new Unlimited Flex plan includes unlimited calls and texts plus 10GB of full-speed data each month. After 10GB of data use, subscribers can continue to use data while throttled to a max speed of 1Mbps per second. That’s a much higher speed than some other carriers use when throttling heavy data users. Throttles to speeds like 1Mbps don’t necessarily degrade the user experience much.

When a year of service is purchased upfront, the Unlimited Flex plan costs only $180 ($15 per month). A monthly billing option for $20 per month is slotted to come out in a few weeks. With the aggressive pricing, the Unlimited Flex plan is potentially the best-value plan on the market.

One caveat to be aware of—hotspot data is not included. On the annual plan, 5GB per month of hotspot data can be added for $30 per year.

Network Transfer Upgrades

According to the announcement, US Mobile subscribers on most plans can now switch between US Mobile’s Verizon-based service and its T-Mobile-based service with just a few clicks. I haven’t tested how well this works, but the prospect of nearly seamlessly switching between networks is awesome. High-quality video won’t stream at 1Mbps, but music streaming or standard browsing should be fine.

AT&T-Based Service

US Mobile’s CEO shared an update about an upcoming service running over AT&T’s network:

And last but not least, we’re well underway in integrating our newest carrier partner into our platform and offerings. From day one, you will be able to access all plans and all activation methods (eSIM and physical SIM) and all of the above features – including network transfer! We will have prioritized data (QCI8), international roaming, and other add-ons as well. We know there is lots of interest in beta testing and the timeline for that will likely be the end of May. Please note that we will not be able to include everyone but will do our best.

Conversation in the Reddit comments suggest that prioritized data won’t be included by default but will instead involve an upcharge.

Plants growing in pots

T-Mobile Adds Data To Connect Plans

Christian 1 Comment

T-Mobile just increased the data allotments on its original Connect plans.

  • $15 Plan – Increased from 3.5GB per month to 5GB
  • $25 Plan – Increased from 6.5GB per month to 8GB

These plans were originally introduced to appease regulators during the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. While T-Mobile committed to increasing data allotments on the plans by 500MB per year, the latest changes exceed T-Mobile’s obligation by 3x.

Underrated Plans

For years, I’ve considered T-Mobile’s Connect plans among the best budget-friendly, limited-data offerings. While the plans aren’t the absolute cheapest options on the market, many consumers are more comfortable purchasing from a big, well-known brand like T-Mobile.1

T-Mobile doesn’t market the plans heavily because they’re not terribly profitable. Reviewers rarely mention the Connect plans since T-Mobile doesn’t compensate people for referring subscribers.

Looking Forward

I’m not aware of T-Mobile making commitments to regulators about the state of the Connect plans after 2025. I’m unsure if T-Mobile will continue to gradually improve the Connect plans, let the offerings stagnate, or actively force customers to migrate to other plans. The two newer Connect plans (a $10/1GB plan & a $35/12GB plan) were not part of commitments to regulators. Those plans were unchanged in the recent updates.

Hat tip to Stetson Doggett, who alerted me to the plan updates.