Comcast’s wireless service, Xfinity Mobile, is changing the pricing structure on its unlimited plans. The company will now discount additional lines on its unlimited plan: a single-line plan will still cost $45 per month, but additional lines become cheaper the more you add. With four lines on a plan, you’ll pay $30 per month per line. That’s in contrast to a previous policy of charging the same fee per line, regardless of the number of lines on a plan — a practice touted on its website as recently as yesterday.
The company points out that its $45 per month unlimited plan is still cheaper than single-line plans among the major wireless carriers, which is true: postpaid unlimited plans from the big three cost between $60 and $70 per month.
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But it’s also worth noting that Xfinity Mobile reduces speeds on all of its unlimited plans once a user reaches 20GB of data per month, which isn’t something you’ll see on the major carriers’ plans. That’s separate from the temporary slowdowns customers might experience when the network is busy, which is a fairly common policy across network providers.
Prices for its “By the Gig” metered plans remain the same: 1GB for $15, 3GB for $30, and 10GB for $60. It’s also still possible to mix data-capped and unlimited lines on the same plan. This isn’t the first time Xfinity Mobile, which operates on Verizon’s network, has changed pricing policies: in 2019, it began charging a fee to add HD streaming to accounts. Previously, it had capped streaming video resolution at 480p but would waive this limitation at no cost on request.
To be fair, both this change and the new unlimited plan pricing structure follow standard practices across the industry. Most unlimited plans limit streaming video to 480p, and all major wireless carriers charge more per line on single versus multiple-line plans. For a change, Comcast isn’t inventing creative new ways to make your bill more confusing — it’s just going with the flow.
Disclosure: Comcast is an investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.
