Has T-Mobile suddenly turned anti-consumer? This is a question worth pondering over after a series of steps that the carrier has taken recently in quick succession, with almost all sporting a harsh mercantile bent.
T-Mobile is not only forcibly migrating its users on legacy and grandfathered plans but also refusing to port over their free lines
As we noted recently, T-Mobile is currently migrating around 8 million customers on its grandfathered and legacy plans, including Simple Choice, ONE, ONE Plus, and the Magenta family of plans, to pricier tiers. Under this framework, around half of the affected users will not see any price increase, while the residual 4 million will get a price hike of up to $6 per month.
As such, all customers on these legacy plans are now being graduated to more "modern" bundles, including Essentials, Essentials Saver, Experience More, Experience Beyond, and Better Value. While T-Mobile insists that the move ensures that its customers receive services they might not have had access to previously, such as premium 5G speeds, more hotspot data, and international roaming in more countries, it will hike the average per-line cost by around $4.
This brings us to the core of today's topic. As per the anecdotal evidence that can be gleaned from social media, T-Mobile is apparently refusing to port over users' free lines as a part of this haphazard migration, which commenced on July 13.
For instance, one user posted on Reddit that he was previously on the Magenta plan with 3 paid and 6 free lines, with the total bill amounting to around $50 per month. However, the user was recently migrated to T-Mobile's Experience Signature plan, with the latest bill amounting to a shocking $300+ and that too without any free lines porting over. Another user said his free line was invalidated by T-Mobile, but was given an year's worth of credit. As if this were not enough, some users are now seeing extra hotspot data tacked on.
The emerging picture is of internal mayhem. T-Mobile apparently instituted this policy without adequately preparing for it, and now customers are having to contend with utter pandemonium.
And this is not all. T-Mobile also recently axed its $800 promo-type cellphone subsidies for existing users, and has forced Apple to implement a policy change, whereby iPhones financed via the carrier will no longer remain unlocked.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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