Virgin Mobile, a prepaid wireless Sprint MVNO has announced that starting on October 9th you'll be able to stream music from select providers without having it count against your high speed 4G LTE data cap. The company is appropriately calling this feature #DataFreeMusic. Since Virgin Mobile is actually owned by Sprint, this gives Sprint a way to indirectly compete against T-Mobile which also allows music streaming that does not count against your high speed data cap through what it calls Music Freedom.
Currently, Virgin Mobile has three streaming partners that it is including as part of its new Data Free streaming music feature. Those partners are Pandora, Slacker, and iHeartRadio. The prepaid provider says that more streaming music providers are coming soon. T-Mobile on the other hand, currently has nearly three dozen streaming partners including the same three that Virgin Mobile is offering.
All three of Virgin Mobile's data containing plans include Data Free music. The three plans offered all include unlimited talk, text, and data with varying amounts at 4G LTE speeds. Pricing of those plans with their high speed data limits are as follows:
- $35/month 1 GB LTE data
- $45/month 3 GB LTE data
- $55/month 8 GB LTE data
Virgin Mobile's Data Done right share plans do not include Data Free streaming music. A $5/month add on is required for unlimited streaming music.
Virgin Mobile Adds More Smartphones to its Lineup
As part of the announcement for Data Free streaming music, Virgin Mobile also released three new smartphones and they are as follows:
- HTC Desire 626s, ($129.99 +tax) featuring a 5-inch 720p HD display, Android™ 5.1, Lollipop, with an 8 MP rear-facing camera.
- Huawei Union, ($79.99+tax) available now at Best Buy and on Oct. 13 at www.virginmobileusa.com, featuring a 4.5-inch touchscreen display, Android™ 5.1, Lollipop, and a 5 MP rear-facing camera.
- The new (3rd generation) Motorola Moto G, ($149.99+tax) featuring a 5 inch HD display, Android™ 5.1 Lollipop, and a 13 MP rear-facing camera. The phone is also water resitant.
The new phones can be found at www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones.
A comparison of all Virgin Mobile cell phone plans can be found here.