T-Mobile Gets Rid Of Overage Fees For 3G Modem Users

An outrageous bill is every cell phone users' worst nightmare. Whether you're talked too many minutes, sent too many text messages, or used too much data, overage fees add up way too quickly. T-Mobile knows just how painful these overage bills can be, so the company is removing per-megabyte overage charges for 3G modems.

Instead of paying overage fees, T-Mobile 3G modem users will now get a gentler reminder that their usage is greater than 5GB per month; the wireless carrier will throttle the speeds of users who have surpassed the 5GB mark. For users who are on the cheaper 200MB/month plan, you'll still pay overage fees, but at a rate that has been reduced by half from 20 cents per MB to a mere 10 cents per MB.

Other big-players in the wireless market including Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T still charge per megabyte if you exceed 5GB of 3G data in a month. Cricket also has an overage-free plan and Sprint provides for unlimited WiMAX use.

For a limited time, T-Mobile has also dropped its monthly data rates to $40 per month for the 5GB plan and $25 per month for the 200MB plan. Currently, T-Mobile's 3G network footprint is smaller than AT&T or Verizon Wireless' but it's growing quickly. Behind the scenes, T-Mobile uses a technology called HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus) which delivers speeds faster than other types of 3G networks.

T-Mobile plans to cover more than 100 metro areas and 185 million people with HSPA+ by the end of this year. The wireless carrier currently has HSPA+ service in Philadelphia, parts of New York City, New Jersey, Long Island, and Washington, D.C. It plans to launch the faster service in Los Angeles soon.