After languishing in fourth place among large U.S. mobile carriers for so long, T-Mobile is starting to feel the heat from its smaller rivals and the pressure to actually try to compete with the big boys. So it’s picking itself up by its bootstraps and saying, “Ya know what, America? Here’s an unlimited data plan.” We see what you’re doing here, T-Mobile.

T-Mobile announced it’ll be offering a new unlimited data service option in a bid to narrow the lead third place Sprint has on it in the monthly contract game, beginning Sept. 5. It might have been nudged by its smaller competitor MetroPCS, which announced earlier this week that it will also give customers the unlimited option in a promotional offer.

As No. 4, T-Mobile has a lot of catching up to do with the big boys, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, neither of which offer an unlimited data plan anymore. Only Sprint has unlimited data services. Before the announcement, T-Mobile had throttled customers’ data speeds after they reached a certain monthly limit. No more.

The new option will cost customers and additional $20 on top of existing $49.99 plans, and will not restrict data usage by cutting back speeds at any point. Their current $74.99 unlimited talk and text plan limits customers to 5 gigabytes of data per month.

Under the new plan, sustomers opting for T-Mobile USA’s unlimited data usage will add a $20 payment on top of their existing $49.99 a month fee, which includes unlimited phone calls and texts and limited data.

Something about this just reeks of “too good to be true,” doesn’t it?

T-Mobile USA to offer unlimited data service option [Reuters]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.