StraightTalk and Net10 Officially Adopt More Transparent Data Policies

After almost 2 years of vague behavior regarding monthly data access while advertising under unlimited terminology in sales collateral when referring to data access, and even falling under a recent class action, Straight Talk and sibling brand Net 10 will now operate under new data access terms and conditions, which include explicit monthly access and throttling:

30 day Unlimited Plans include 2.5 GB of high speed data per 30 day cycle.  After 2.5 GB, your data speed will be reduced for the remainder of the 30 day cycle.  High speed data is restored once a new 30 day service plan is added.  Other limitations, terms and conditions of service apply.  Straight Talk reserves the right to terminate your service for unauthorized or abnormal usage. 

The same terms also apply to the $60 International Unlimited plan on Straight Talk and both $50/$65 monthly Net10 unlimited service plans as well, with speeds being throttled to 2G speeds after the first 2.5 GB in a month. With the confirmation of the changes, these are now in immediate effect for both current customers and new customers from today onward.

While no specific reasoning was given for the changes, the new data access policies did not mention specific carriers, and the changes officially apply across all devices and BYOD services offered on both brands. What is also unknown is what exactly triggered the shift in policy, whether it was the move to offer LTE or the Straight Talk class action from earlier this year.

Below, the Terms and Conditions for Net10:

30 day Unlimited Plans include 2.5 GB of high speed data per 30 day cycle.  After 2.5 GB, your data speed will be reduced for the remainder of the 30 day cycle.  High speed data is restored once a new 30 day service plan is added.  Other limitations, terms and conditions of service apply.  NET10 reserves the right to terminate your service for unauthorized or abnormal usage.

With the addition of explicit data usage policies going forward, this will lead to less complaints about the lack of transparency regarding data access limits and may even get more people to reconsider Straight Talk and Net10, especially with the recent addition of LTE support on AT&T SIM cards and the rumored addition of Verizon LTE access with new devices expected in the coming weeks.

However, while the new changes may sound good and address the most consistent complaint levied against the brands, the biggest variable at the moment is the execution of the changes, and that remains to be seen.