PSA: T-Mobile's $15 plan is totally capped, a not so 'Uncarrier' move

Earlier this week, T-Mobile released its new $15 per month Connect prepaid mobile plan. T-Mobile Connect promises users unlimited calls and texts plus 2GB of data — or 5GB if you are willing to fork over $10 more per month.

Back in 2014, the “Uncarrier” announced that it would be doing away with data caps and overages by offering unlimited data at reduced speeds, even if customers used up all of their high-speed data allotment. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for T-Mobile Connect. After looking closer at the plan’s fine print, you will see the carrier will simply shut off your data when you reach the limit.

It doesn’t look like customers will see accidental overages, but in order to use more than 2 or 5GB of data, they will need to purchase an additional data pass. That means the $15 price tag could go up pretty quickly if you aren’t careful.

Read also: The best prepaid plans and no contract plans in the US

T-Mobile first announced the Connect plan back in November. The carrier initially planned to launch it after the Sprint merger finalized. Connect’s release was pushed forward in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic since many people need a budget-friendly plan to keep them connected during this time of social isolation.

At first, this looked like a great thing, but now, this move doesn’t seem very true to T-Mobile’s Uncarrier identity. If the real goal of the plan was to keep people connected, then offering a plan with such harsh data limitations doesn’t make a lot of sense.

If you are looking for a way to stay entertained and keep in touch with friends and family during this quarantine, you might want to pass on T-Mobile Connect. Sure it’s cheap, but if you truly rely on your mobile data, there are better options out there.