eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
MetroPCS is joining its parent company T-Mobile in giving its customers free unlimited music streaming and more high-speed data each month under their monthly calling plans.
The new Music Unlimited service will allow MetroPCS customers to stream an unlimited amount of music using their mobile devices without having to use up their monthly data packages, according to a Nov. 16 announcement by the company. Customers on qualifying plans will be eligible to stream music from 33 music streaming services under the service, which will be expanded with more streaming venues in the future.
MetroPCS is also adding more included data with its calling plans, with an additional 1GB of high-speed data to most plans and an extra 2GB of Mobile Hotspot tethering data to its Unlimited 4G LTE phone plan, according to the company.
In addition, MetroPCS customers will now get the benefit of T-Mobile’s Data Maximizer service, which lets customers view three times the streaming video in DVD quality using the same amount of data as in the past, saving on their data bills.
The Music Unlimited service will be included for all MetroPCS customers who have phone plans that include 3GB or more of 4G LTE service. Music Unlimited includes streaming music from Pandora, Spotify, Google Play Music, iHeartRadio, Apple Music and other services.
MetroPCS mobile family plans (with two or more lines) that now get more included data are $35 a month for unlimited talk, text and data with 3GB of 4G LTE data for each line (up from 2GB) and including Music Unlimited and Data Maximizer; $45 a month for unlimited talk, text and data with 5GB of 4G LTE data for each line (up from 4GB) and including Music Unlimited and Data Maximizer; and $55 a month for unlimited talk, text and 4G LTE data plus 8GB of Mobile Hotspot tethering for each line (up from 6GB), now including Music Unlimited and Data Maximizer.
Customers who choose just a single line without a family plan will play an additional $5 more per month for the calling and data plans.
The new MetroPCS rate plans and extra services will start on Nov. 19.
“Once again we are setting MetroPCS apart from the rest of the pack in ways that no one else will,” John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile US, said in a statement. “MetroPCS is the number one brand in prepaid because we keep giving customers more of what they want, and today that means adding Music Unlimited and Data Maximizer to the list. Their data will last longer than ever before without ridiculous penalty fees or trickery.”
The MetroPCS mobile plan expansions follow similar moves from T-Mobile in the past, according to earlier eWEEK reports. In June 2014, T-Mobile introduced its Un-carrier 6 Music Freedom offering, which allowed customers on its Simple Choice plans to listen to streaming music from Pandora, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio, Slacker and Spotify without using their monthly high-speed data allowances. Previously, such streaming would count against a user’s data plan usage.
Earlier in November, T-Mobile doubled the included data in customers’ Simple Choice plans without raising their monthly bills. Customers who were paying for 1GB of data each month now get 2GB of data, while those who were buying 2GB get 4GB and so on, according to the company.
Also in November, T-Mobile unveiled free unlimited video streaming on devices without it counting against monthly data plans for customers who have Simple Choice cellular plans with 3GB of data or more per line. The free unlimited “Binge On” video streaming capability is part of T-Mobile’s Un-carrier X announcements.
Under Binge On, customers with qualifying data plans will be able to stream video content from some 24 content providers to start, including HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Showtime, Sling TV, Starz, WatchESPN and more, all without using the data in their monthly plans. The video streaming will be provided at 480p DVD quality and will be optimized to use one-third of the bandwidth that’s normally required for video, according to the company.
T-Mobile likes to call itself the Un-carrier because it says it does the things that traditional carriers won’t try. In the last few years, T-Mobile’s Un-carrier events have ended mobile contracts for consumers, removed overage charges and brought more innovations for customers.