T-Mobile offers free unlimited data to ‘Pokemon Go’ gamers

“Pokemon Go” players won’t have to worry about running out of high speed data — at least not on T-Mobile’s network.

The cellphone carrier announced Thursday that it’s offering customers one year of free unlimited data exclusively for use with “Pokemon Go.” Customers can avoid paying $45 a month for unlimited data if they sign up on any Tuesday until August 2017 as part of the company’s T-Mobile Tuesdays promotion.

With the move, the nation’s third-biggest cellular provider became the first to capitalize on the runaway success of an augmented reality game that is notoriously data and battery intensive. T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere tweeted on Tuesday that data usage on the network has quadrupled since last Friday.

“It’s a PR opportunity hiding in plain sight and of course they seized it,” said IDC mobile analyst John Jackson.

Jackson foresees other carriers making similar offers as augmented reality applications become more common.

“People adore this stuff. If this starts to occupy eyeballs in a disproportionate fashion, which it is, you can bet operators will find creative ways to make you do it on their networks,” he said. “That will involve pricing incentives.”

But Verizon spokeswoman Heidi Flato says offering a free high-speed data plan for the sake of “Pokemon Go” won’t be necessary at the company. “The app represents less than 1% of our overall network data traffic on the Verizon network,” she said.

J. Gold Associates mobile analyst Jack Gold says the move is another attempt by T-Mobile to set itself apart from the other carriers.

“This is really just another way for them to poke at Verizon and AT&T in the eye, and maybe even Sprint, and say to users, ‘Come to us and we’ll give you all the stuff those big bad guys aren’t giving you,’” he said.

Jackson cautions that T-Mobile is risking a reduction in network quality if too many people vie for high-speed data at once.

“All the competitors are trying to work out exactly when T-Mobile’s network is going to fall over on its side because of all the free stuff,” Jackson said.

The carrier is also offering half off certain accessories, including portable power packs and chargers, to help sustain battery life during “Pokemon Go” sessions.

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