T-Mobile is hitting back at Verizon's unlimited data offer with some changes of its own.
The carrier this week announced that its T-Mobile One plan now includes HD video streaming and 10GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data. The upgrades will be available to customers at no extra change, starting Friday. Customers can activate these new features in the T-Mobile app or at my.t-mobile.com.
The addition of HD streaming will be nice for those times when you want higher definition streaming for a screen bigger than your smartphone. T-Mobile streams video for One users at 480p, which is fine for smartphone screens. Until now, those who wanted higher definition for a larger screen needed to add "T-Mobile One Plus" or "One Plus International" to their line for $15 or $25 more a month, respectively, to get unlimited "HD Day Passes."
As Ars Technica reported, those HD Day Passes only offered HD streaming for 24 hours, so if you wanted to stream HD video every day, you needed to go to the T-Mobile app or website and get a new pass every day, which was as annoying as it sounds. Now, things should be a lot less confusing. A T-Mobile spokesperson told the news outlet that you'll only need to enable HD video once, and as long as you keep the same monthly plan you're good to go.
Plus, now all three T-Mobile One plans, which cost $70, $85, or $95 a month, will have HD streaming, not just the two priciest options.
Meanwhile, the addition of 10GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data will come in handy when you're tethering a laptop or another device to access the Internet. After you eat up that 10GB of high-speed data, your connection will slow down to 3G, but you'll still be able to browse as much as you want on that slower connection.
T-Mobile also today announced a new deal for those needing two lines. Starting on Friday, new and existing customers can get two lines of One for $100 total per month.
The changes come after Verizon this week announced that it's bringing back unlimited data, starting at $80 per month. Of course, T-Mobile's outspoken CEO John Legere couldn't keep quiet about the news:
"I don't blame Verizon for caving," he said in a statement. "They just lost their network advantage. T-Mobile and Verizon's networks are at parity, and Verizon knows it … and more importantly, more and more customers know it. Their back's against the wall… Next up, we're going to force them to include monthly taxes and fees. Mark my words."