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T-Mobile’s New Unlimited Phone Plan Is Designed for Families, But Check the Details

The Better Value plan looks great on paper, especially compared to its Experience More plan, but the fine print matters on this limited time deal.

If you’re looking for an unlimited data phone plan for three or more people that includes plenty of perks, T-Mobile’s new Better Value plan has a lot to offer. But does the name actually reflect a better value for an unlimited plan, especially considering, according to the company, it’s a limited time offering?

We rank T-Mobile’s Essentials plan highly in our Best Cellphone Plans, Best Unlimited Data Plans and Best T-Mobile Plans lists, though after reviewing the specifics, the Experience More plan — the number two unlimited postpaid plan — presents a more interesting comparison. Let’s see how they stack up.

Better Value plan pricing and features compared

For an account with three lines, the monthly cost of the Better Value plan is $140 (with AutoPay active), plus applicable taxes and fees. Experience More similarly costs $140 a month for three lines. The Essentials plan costs $90 a month for three lines, but lacks most of the add-ons that make the other two plans appealing.

Both the Experience More and Better Value plans offer unlimited data on T-Mobile’s 5G network, a five-year price guarantee and two-year device upgrades.

However, the Better Value plan includes 250GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data, compared to 60GB for the Experience More plan. After those amounts have been used up, data is available at an unlimited rate of 600 kbps. (T-Mobile’s highest tier plan by comparison, Experience Beyond, includes unlimited high-speed hotspot data.)

Better Value also includes more high-speed data when you’re in other countries, with 30GB available in Mexico and Canada, as well as in 215 countries and areas worldwide. That’s more than the Experience More plan, which offers 15GB in North America and 5GB elsewhere.

T-Satellite is also included in the Better Value plan, a feature that costs $10 extra for every other T-Mobile plan except for Experience Beyond.

One appeal of these plans, especially in the context of families, is the set of included streaming services. The Better Value plan and Experience More plan both include Netflix Standard with Ads and Hulu, and Apple TV can be added for $3 per month.

Important qualifications

Here’s where the fine print comes in, and it appears that T-Mobile is aiming to inspire and reward loyalty.

If you’re switching from a different carrier, the Better Value plan requires three or more lines and two eligible ports. Although it’s likely a family or small business would be transferring from another provider and not keeping its other lines, Better Value is an effort to build up group plans and incentivize switching away from other carriers.

If you’re already set up with T-Mobile, the Better Value plan requires that you have been a T-Mobile postpaid customer for at least five years. And if you have that much tenure, you should be aware that your current plan might have taxes and fees included, whereas the Better Value plan doesn’t.

The Better Value plan is available in the T-Life app and on T-Mobile.com. When you enter a retail T-Mobile store, you’ll likely be directed to the app or website with the assistance of an employee.

And lastly, T-Mobile brands this as a limited-time offer, but I confirmed with a spokesperson that it currently has no end date. 

See also: I got an in-depth look at T-Mobile’s emergency response programs.

T-Mobile Better Value vs. Experience More plans

Better Value plan Experience More plan
High-speed data 5G, Unlimited 5G, Unlimited
Mobile Hotspot 250GB high-speed, then unlimited at 600kbps 60GB high-speed, then unlimited at 600kbps
International Call/Data Unlimited talk and text; 30GB high-speed data in Mexico/Canada/215+ countries, then unlimited at 256 kbps Unlimited talk and text; 15GB high speed data in Canada/Mexico, 5GB high speed data in 215+ countries; then unlimited at 256Kbps
Extras Netflix Standard with Ads; Hulu with Ads; Magenta Status; Apple TV for $3/mo Netflix Standard with Ads; 1 year AAA; Magenta Status; Apple TV for $3/mo
Price Guarantee 5 years 5 years
T-Satellite Included Optional $10 add-on
Cost for 3 lines $140 $140
Limited-time offer? Yes No

Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

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Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know

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