Walmart Family Mobile, one of the many brands that is powered by T-Mobile has updated its wireless plans. The MVNO's $39.88 and $49.88 plans now include unlimited calling to Canada and Mexico. Now there is a little bit of fine print associated with the new feature offering, so let's review those two plans with their new fine print.
Walmart Family Mobile's $39.88 And $49.88 Plans Explained
The Fine Print
Both plans include unlimited talk and text. International calling to Mexico and Canada is available to both landlines and mobile numbers that are subject to change at any time. To call internationally, calls must originate from either the USA or Puerto Rico.
The two phone plans also differ in several ways as highlighted below.
$39.88 Plan
This plan includes unlimited data, but only the first 14GB each month is available at 4G LTE data speeds before throttling to 2G data speeds. Customers can also use mobile hotspot with the plan to the plan's full allotment of high-speed data.
$49.88 Plan
This plan includes unlimited 4G LTE data, however, mobile hotspot is only limited to 10GB. Video streaming is also limited to a resolution of 480p. If a subscriber uses more than 40GB of high-speed data in a month, during times of network congestion their data speeds may be temporarily slowed until the congestion gets relieved. This is a form of data prioritization, a policy employed in one way or another by all unlimited plan providers on the market.
New lines of activation can add additional lines to their plan for $24.88/month. So customers can get 2 unlimited LTE data lines for $74.76/month.
Editor's Take
Over the last year or two, there has been a growing industry trend of offering international calling and texting services. Tracfone owned brands, in particular, have really been focusing on the feature. Total Wireless recently began offering unlimited international calling (pictured) on all plans priced $35 and up as a limited time offer. NET10 Wireless was also offering international calling as a limited time feature on some lower-priced plans, although the offer has since ended. Now it's Walmart Family Mobile's turn to test that market niche. Walmart Family Mobile is owned by Tracfone.