Virgin Mobile unveils no-contract unlimited data plan, another reason to stray from the big two

Virgin Mobile is rolling out new contract-free data sharing plans as well as an unlimited data plan for single lines — giving consumers one more reason to avoid AT&T and Verizon.

Starting January 17, Virgin will push out new offerings that undercut the competition. The new data sharing plans all come with a mobile hotspot and an app to manage data sharing and parental control features. Plus, for $5 a month, users can get unlimited access to certain social apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pandora without it counting against their overall data usage. Virgin Mobile’s pricing goes just above T-Mobile’s unlimited talk, text, and data plan, which offers four lines for $100 flat. But the key difference here is data speed. Virgin offers 12GB of data on its 3G/4G LTE network, while T-Mobile offers 10GB of data on the fast speed LTE network.

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For a single line, users can get unlimited everything for only $45 a month, but only 2.5GB of data will be on Virgin’s high speed network. Which basically means that it will take a long time to pull data onto your phone after your first 2.5GB of data are spent.

There are also some stipulations. First, you can only get the Virgin Mobile Unlimited and Data Share at Walmart stores. Second, it will only be available on certain phones, like updated editions of the HTC Desire 510, the LG Tribute, the LG Volt, and the Samsung Galaxy Core Prime.

Virgin Mobile is the latest carrier to try to make a dent in Verizon and AT&T’s stronghold on the mobile market with lower priced plans with better data options. T-Mobile has been getting a lot of attention for its unlimited data plans lately, especially as Verizon and AT&T continue to draw negative attention for their data throttling practices. With these new plans, Virgin Mobile stands to gain a foothold among lower earning Americans.

View the plans below.

Family Plans

Options			$65/month (2 lines)		$90/month (3 lines)		$115/month (4 lines)
Talk			Unlimited		Unlimited		Unlimited
Text			Unlimited		Unlimited		Unlimited
Data3			4GB 3G/4G LTE		8GB 3G/4G LTE		12GB 3G/4G LTE

Single Plans

Options					$35/month				$45/month
Talk					300 minutes				Unlimited
Text					Unlimited				Unlimited
Data3					Unlimited (2.5GB high-speed data)				Unlimited (2.5GB high-speed data)