Politics and Money

[Elroy Jetson]

In case I haven't, I thought I'd mention T-Mobile's 55 Unlimited plan which provides unlimited 4G data, even outside the US at 2G speed, for $30 a phone which is $2 less than we were paying Verizon for voice and text once they added in all of their mystery fees and "taxes".

https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/t-mobile-one-unlimited-55

The "unlimited" 4G drops to 3G speed after 50 GB per month, but it looks like we'll be using only 2 to 3 GB of that total each month as T-Mobile also makes use of an extensive WiFi network they use VPN on. If you travel to Europe or elsewhere it pays to add 3G speed on foreign networks and free long distance for an extra $25 a month for those weeks you'd need it. No more hunting down SIM shops for local coverage.

Deutsche Telekom offers the same deal in Germany for 30€, but EU roaming outside Germany costs an extra 10€ - but now we don't need them.

The best news for people in rural areas like Palm Springs is T-Mobile is rapidly building out the 45% of available UHF TV channel frequencies they bought for $8 billion which will provide a more extensive network coverage than Verizon using the relatively new Band 71. UHF TV stations have until 2020 to vacate the airwaves, but most have already left.

But unless you buy an LG phone you'll need to wait to buy next year's phones which will support Band 71.

Once older handsets are upgraded T-Mobile will be completely a 4G LTE data network with even voice carried over LTE as it is on our Samsung phones - it's like talking to someone in the same room sitting next to you, actually much better than a voice landline from AT&T.