T-Mobile offers $50/month prepaid unlimited plan, but only for a limited time

T-Mobile has launched a new $50/month unlimited prepaid plan. The new offering is through T-Mobile Prepaid, not Metro by T-Mobile, and it'll only be available for a limited time. The plan gives customers unlimited data on T-Mobile's 4G LTE network, as well as unlimited talk and text, but there are a few big restrictions.

Unlimited plans are popular again, but they're not quite the same as unlimited options from years ago. Multiple carriers offer more than one "unlimited" variant, each at different price points, and each with certain restrictions or benefits not available on alternative unlimited options.

That's the case for T-Mobile's limited time offer: $50/month prepaid for unlimited data, but with big limits on video resolution and tethering. Subscribers will "typically" get 480p video resolutions when streaming over mobile data; they'll also be limited to 3G network speeds when tethered.

As well, T-Mobile lists the limited-time prepaid unlimited plan as only for domestic use, and there's a possibility that the customer will be temporarily throttled during congested time periods. Finally, customers who use more than 50GB per month "may notice reduced speeds" until the next billing cycle starts, according to T-Mobile.

This isn't T-Mobile's only unlimited plan. The company's Metro by T-Mobile — which was formerly known as MetroPCS — offers a $60/month prepaid unlimited plan, as well. Though that plan is ten dollars more expensive per month, customers get Amazon Prime bundled with the plan, Google One storage, and 15GB/month of hotspot data.