The cell phone plan provider Metro PCS unveiled a new low cost unlimited everything plan today. Metro PCS which is the budget branded carrier owned by T-Mobile signals yet another volley in the prepaid cell phone war between its main competitors Cricket Wireless and Boost Mobile. The new Metro PCS cheapest plan is now only $30 per month with taxes and fees included.
Metro PCS has a number of prepaid plans that range as high as $60 per month, but the addition of the $30 per month tier will now make them competitive with Cricket whose lowest priced unlimited everything plan is $35/month and Boost Mobile’s lowest tier prepaid plan which is also $35/month.
What to Look Out For
However, there are a number of important caveats that might make Metro PCS’s plan less attractive than its counterparts despite being $5 cheaper per month. For these reasons one should be wary of switching right away until taken into consideration. Let’s take a look:
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You can only get the $30/month plan by going to a physical store location, whereas Cricket Wireless and Boost Mobile allow online sign-ups.
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You can only get the plan if you buy an eligible GSM 3G/4G phone from them. Unfortunately, bringing your own phone does not qualify.
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The plan doesn’t support LTE phones despite offering 1GB of high speed 4G data…
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While the Metro PCS plan is $5 cheaper than Cricket & Boost, it only offers 1GB/month of high-speed 4G data, while the other two offer 2.5GB/month.
While I applaud T-Mobile/Metro PCS’s efforts to become more competitive in the low cost prepaid cell phone provider market, I think the above list of negatives could possibly be a deal breaker for trying to attract customers from Cricket or Boost Mobile even if it is $5 cheaper. Although I will say, if this price war keeps up, we’ll be seeing these providers start to approach Republic Wireless territory soon.
New Metro PCS Family Plan for 2
In addition to Metro PCS decreasing the price of their low tier prepaid plan to $30, they have also added a discount for additional lines to that plan. This makes a Metro PCS family plan for 2 or more (up to 5) not a bad option for sharing between your family members.
The pricing for the family plan option is fairly simply, you can start with the basic $30 per month plan, except when you add additional lines you get a $5 discount per line, up to a total of five lines. For example, getting two lines would end up costing $50 which makes both lines equivalent to a $25 plan or $5 per line. Not too shabby.
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I haven’t talked much about Metro PCS on this blog, but I have done some research into its parent company T-Mobile who has no doubt been waging war against the other big three carriers: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and now it looks like their respective budget brands are also in the cross hairs.
If there are any readers who use or have used Metro PCS, I’d love to hear about your experience with them in the comments below and what your opinion is on their new cheapest plan option?
metropcs charges their customers an additional $2 (debit card only @ atm) $3 (in store) to pay your cell service at their store – & seems to have withdrawn all their prepaid phone cards.
a little known additional cost to keep in mind.
they claim a 90 day unlock for their phones … but their follow through in providing the requested unlock code is very POOR … even for well established customers …
vaya con dios
I don’t know how this service is but I just found a company called “wingTell” they sound excellent and A1 service. Sing up on line
HELLO. MY NAME IS LAURA & I’VE BEEN WITH METRO CONSISTENTLY SINCE OCTOBER 2012. SAME NUMBER, NO “OUT OF SERVICE” TIME. I BEGAN ON A $40 MONTHLY PLAN. WHEN THE $30 PLAN WAS OFFERED ABOUT A YEAR LATER I WAS ABLE TO SWITCH TO IT. OBVIOUSLY I DON’T USE MY PHONE FOR MUCH MIRE THAN TALKING & TEXTING & SOME INTERNET USAGE. YES THEY CHARGE FOR IN STORE PYMTS & AT THEIR 24 HR BOXES. BUT PAYING ONLINE IS COMPLETELY FREE & CONVENIENT. THEY HAVE BEEN ESPECIALLY CUSTOMER ORIENTED WHEN I’VE RUN INTO A COUPLE OF SITUATIONS WHERE SWITCHING PHONES AFTER STORE HOURS & ON A PHONE WITH THEM WOULD HAVE A FEE THEY WAIVED IT. THEY ALSO ALLOW YOU A GRACE PERIOD OF ABOUT 3 DAYS ON PAYING YOUR MONTHLY SERVICE FEE IF YOU’LL CALL IN BEFORE ITS DUE & TALK TO THEM. THEY HAVE WAIVED OTHER FEES FOR ME BY ME SIMPLY ASKING & EXPLAINING WHY I FELT IT UNNECESSARY. THEY HAVE ALWAYS SOLVED EVERY PROBLEM I’VE HAD & ALSO QUIET PATIENT WHEN I’VE NOT UNDERSTOOD HOW TO DO SOMETHING ON MY PHONE & I NEED GUIDANCE. PRIOR TO OCTOBER 2012 I WAS WITH METRO ALSO BUT NOT ALWAYS CONSISTANTLY. I FEEL I GET THE SERVICE I EXPECT, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE I EXPECT, & OTHER THAN ONE REALLY UNHAPPY EXPERIENCE AT A CORPORATE OWNED STORE RECENTLY ALL MY OTHER BUSINESS WITH THE FRANCHISED STORES HAS BEEN REMARKABLE. I CAN’T IMAGINE SWITCHING CARRIERS EVER. I WASN’T THIS SATISFIED WITH ANY OF THE OTHER CARRIERS LIKE AT&T, & SPRINT WAS AWFUL, TRACFONE WAS JUST RIDICULOUS. I DID HAVE T-MOBILE ONCE & WILL SAY IT WAS A DECENT EXPERIENCE. OF COURSE ALL OF THIS WAS IN THE EARLY 2000’S. YOU ASK FOR SOMEONE’S COMMENT SO I THOUGHT A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE STORY WAS IN ORDER. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOICE MINE.
I want a 30 $ plan not a 70 $
We just added a 3rd line to our service! I was led to believe it it was $100 for the three lines BUT the advanced notice I received shows $124+! What the heck is going on? Please reply ASAP… Tyvm for your time… Denise Thomas