AT&T-owned, pre-paid wireless carrier Cricket offers relatively affordable plans starting at $40 per month for 2.5GB of high-speed data (or just $35 if you sign up for automatic payments). But up until recently, the company’s plans topped out at 10GB for $60 ($55 with auto-pay).
Now Cricket Wireless is launching a new unlimited data option for $70 per month, or $65 with auto-pay.
Why go unlimited? If the company’s press release is anything to go by, it’s all about offering an alternative to T-Mobile’s unlimited data plans.
There are a few caveats. First, as a pre-paid carrier, you’ll need to buy a phone at full price or bring your own phone to Cricket’s network.
Second, while the plan includes “unlimited” talk, text, and data… there are actually some limits: 4G LTE download speeds will be capped at 8 Mbps and 3G/HSPA+ speeds are capped at 4 MBps. Cricket also prohibits customers from using their phone as a mobile hotspot.
The good news is that the $65/$70 price tag includes taxes and fees.
Cricket says its new unlimited plan will be available to US customers starting April 17th.
Technically, there are already cheaper options. Straight Talk, for example, offers “unlimited” talk, text, and data on AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon’s networks for as little as $45 per month. But “unlimited” in this case, means you only get 5GB of high-speed data, after which data is throttled back to 2G speeds. Straight Talk also offers a 10GB plan for $55 and up. Cricket, meanwhile, offers unlimited “high speed” data.
T-Mobile also points out that Cricket rival (and T-Mobile subsidiary) Metro PCS also has an unlimited data plan for $60 per month. It doesn’t throttle users’ speeds and includes 8GB of data per month for tethering.