T-Mobile will allow its customers to bank unused data allowances for future use, it has revealed. The
Uncarrier 8.0 announcement of "
Data Stash" allows data to rollover from month to month, with leftover data stored on the account for up to a year, allowing the customer to go over their normal monthly data allowance at a later time.
Starting from January, new and existing customers on the Simple Choice plan will have Data Stash included automatically, so long as they are on a plan with 3GB or more of LTE data for smartphones, or 1GB or more for tablet use. Unused data allowance from a month will be rounded up to the nearest megabyte and added to the Data Stash automatically, with no upper limit on the amount of data which can be collected. Qualifying customers will also receive a 10GB initial stash, before adding on unused allowances.
"Americans have been gamed by the carriers into buying huge data plans – all to avoid getting screwed with overage penalties, only to find out they bought more than they need which is then confiscated by the carrier,"
writes president and CEO John Legere. "That data is rightfully yours, and we're putting an end to this appalling industry practice today." Legere advised that Data Stash was created based on customer feedback, with more than 40,000 requests made on Twitter to implement some form of rolling data program.