T-Mobile’s war on overly complicated bills, explained

T-Mobile is trying to simplify how it and other wireless companies sell you phone service — and how they bill you for it. If it works, it could help clear up those headaches you may get while trying to decipher what you're actually paying for month after month.

T-Mobile said that beginning Jan 22, it will only sell a single cellular plan to new customers: a plan that gives you unlimited talk, text and data (though heavy users may still experience reduced Internet speeds during periods of high demand). This plan, known as T-Mobile One, has been around for a while now. But T-Mobile's decision to sell only this plan moving forward is an effort to streamline what can be a confusing jumble in the industry of different-size data buckets, temporary promotional discounts and opaque billing that adds up to billions every year, according to the company. The centerpiece of this new approach is the notion of single-figure billing: You see one number on your bill, and you pay it. That's it — no additional line items for taxes or other fees. As an example, a family of four might previously have paid $40 a line, and then additional miscellaneous charges on top of that, upping the total.