For the third time in the past year and a half, Consumer Cellular has updated its phone plans. The company has increased the amount of data that comes with all data add-ons. Subscribers can now add 2GB of data with unlimited text for $10/month to their unlimited talk plan. The option for unlimited talk costs $20/month.
Consumer Cellular's Data Add-On Changes Highlighted
Consumer Cellular's data add-on options have changed as follows:
- $5/month - 250MB, previously 200MB
- $10/month - 2GB, previously 500MB
- $20/month - 5GB, previously 1.5GB
- $30/month - 10GB, previously 3GB
- $40/month - 20GB, previously 5GB
A $2.50/month 30MB plan option has been discontinued.
All data add-on options include unlimited texting. Consumer Cellular does not offer unlimited 2G data once your plans high speed data allotment runs out. Instead the company will automatically upgrade you to the next higher tiered data plan. If you consume more than 20GB of data in a month you will be billed an additional $5 per GB used, and data speeds may be slowed. According to their terms of service, mobile hotspot may not be supported, as the plans do not make mention of it as a plan feature. A Consumer Cellular blog post does however say that you can call the company and request the feature be turned on for your account.
Data only phone plans are not an option so subscribers must pair a data plan to a talk plan. There are two talk plans available and they are priced as follows:
- $15/month - 250 minutes
- $20/month - unlimited
Subscribers can add a second line to their plan for $15/month. Minutes and data are shared between lines. Taxes and fees are not included in the prices shown and do cost extra. AARP members save an additional 5% on the prices shown.
More About Consumer Cellular And Editor's Take
Consumer Cellular is an MVNO that operates on both the AT&T and T-Mobile networks. The company has been in business since 1995 and has traditionally catered to seniors.
The data increases represent a massive change compared to the old plan options. Although the plans are now much more competitively priced, they are still not very cheap compared to other ATT based providers. For instance Red Pocket Mobile offers unlimited talk, text and data with the first 5GB at 4G LTE speeds for $30/month. Consumer Cellular is charging the same price for only 2GB of data, with no data at 2G speeds. For $50/month, they are offering unlimited talk and text with 10GB of data. However, AT&T Prepaid is now offering unlimited data for $45/month to new customers. Pricing isn't everything to everybody though. Consumer Cellular is renowned for offering an excellent customer support experience. That's something you certainly cannot find everywhere.