T-Mobile is retiring some of its oldest plans and moving affected customers to modern ones. Some will see no change to their bill, but others can expect an increase reaching $4 per line starting in July.
Options the carrier is retiring were built as far back as 15 years ago during the 3G and 4G eras, long before T-Mobile's 5G network was fully deployed. Check that you're unaffected below.
Over 1,000 legacy billing codes exit T-Mobile’s system
T-Mobile has confirmed its intention to retire old tiers to Android Authority. Although it didn't specify the affected packages, rumors are circulating about Simple Choice, ONE, ONE Plus, the Magenta family of tiers, grandfathered Sprint packages carried over from T-Mobile's 2020 Sprint merger, and T-Mobile for Business options.
We’re retiring our oldest plans, some of which were built nearly 15 years ago – in the 3G and 4G eras, and well before our 5G network was fully deployed. Customers will transition to modern plans that provide access to America’s best wireless technology, enhanced features and a 5-year price guarantee for peace of mind. Some customers will see no change to their monthly bill, while some will see a modest adjustment. Every customer moved to a new plan will keep their current benefits while gaining improvements in network and service experiences.
T-Mobile.
The migration clears out over 1,100 legacy billing codes according to T-Mobile's Chief Operating Officer Jon Freier. Every plan the carrier has ever offered usually gets its own unique code in the billing system, which tells the system what to charge, what features to enable, what discounts to apply, and what exceptions to honor every billing cycle.
Because it inherited Sprint's entire billing infrastructure on top of its own, it has had to maintain two systems' worth of legacy codes. Its newer systems had to reference Sprint-era codes built on different technical foundations to process customer bills correctly.
However, a billing code becomes a maintenance problem as it ages. Engineers have to account for every system update interaction with the legacy configurations. It's a buggy and ineffective process in the long term, compared with a standardized set of modern plans that are less complex and cheaper to maintain.
Prices are going up for some users
T-Mobile voice lines could go up by $6 per line, watch and tablet lines by $3, and 5G Home Internet lines by $6. But the average increase is $4 per line across affected customers. To the mobile carrier, it's an upgrade because customers transitioning to new plans keep all their current benefits and gain additional ones.
The perks include enhanced device offers, streaming services, improved international roaming, travel perks, and a 5-year price guarantee on monthly charges for talk, text, and 5G data.
One benefit that may not make the switch is the Kickback promo available on the ONE plan, which knocked $10 off per line each month it stayed under 2GB of data usage.
You will receive an official text message from T-Mobile announcing the changes. You’ll also get two weeks' notice before they take effect in July.
