T-Mobile is reportedly going to include all taxers in its new rate plans

Last year T-Mobile made its first “uncarrier” announcement. It shunned traditional two year service contracts in favour of an equipment installment plan which debuted alongside its new Simple Choice plans. The carrier then made more uncarrier moves in the coming months by introducing an early upgrade program and even offering free 2G data roaming. Its expected to make the uncarrier 5.0 announcement soon and according to a rumor it might bring simplified rate plans that include all taxes. If you’re a postpaid subscriber in the U. you’ll surely know about the addition of taxes and fees that swell the bottom line. For example in the state of California subscribers have to pay 38 cents in City Utility Users Tax, 2 cents in the Relay Service Device Fund and 8 cents in the State 911 Tax apart from quite a few other fees and charges. This adds up if you have multiple lines since these are calculated on a per-line basis.

If you are a consumer on just about any level, chances are you know about taxes. Income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, take your pick. Phone bills in the United States have loads of taxes and fees that get added to the bottom line. Moreover, these taxes can vary by city, and fees vary by state, on top of whatever the FCC plugs into the mix as well. It is not uncommon to see fees and taxes add as much as 15% to a bill. There is not any single major culprit either, the fees literally assault you with pennies. In California for example, there are no fewer than 10 surcharges and “other fees” in some parts of the state. Line items such as, “City Utility Users Tax” (38 cents), “Relay Service Device Fund” (2 cents), “State 911 Tax” (8 cents), and more, all add up, especially if you have more than one line, since these are assessed at a per-line level. Plus, because some are flat fees, and others are a percentage based tax, they are not uniform across the board. These fees have legitimate uses (most of them anyway), and have been a part of the telecom billing landscape since even before the days of MaBell and McCaw Cellular. All that appears to be on the way for another change. A tip we just received indicates that T-Mobile will upset the market once again with the announcement of UN-carrier 5.0. Team Magenta’s post-paid customers will see their rate plans priced to be inclusive of all taxes and regulatory fees. That means, the plan pricing that T-Mobile offers will be all-in. Clean and simple.