T-Mobile Drops 5GB Cap, Ushers in a New Mobile Broadband Future

[Commentary] T-Mobile has announced that it will pull the 5 gigabyte-per-month cap on its mobile broadband service, part of an effort to push its HSPA+ network, which can deliver data speeds of up to 21 Mbps down. So is real competition coming to the wireless industry, or is this the end of flat-rate mobile broadband? I think it's both. T-Mobile has changed its mobile data pricing plan to cut overage charges for customers of its 200 MB plan in half, and remove them entirely for customers who pay $59.99 per month (or $49.99 per month without a contract) for the 5 GB plan. The move is aimed at signing up customers in an increasingly competitive mobile broadband market. After all, Clearwire, Sprint and the cable companies are already selling WiMAX, which can deliver up to 6 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up, and Verizon is prepping for the launch of its LTE service during the fourth quarter of this year. AT&T will follow with LTE in 2011.