Continuing its efforts to give families the freedom to stay connected on their terms, <A HREF="http://www.t-mobile.com/company/PressReleases_Article.aspx?assetName=Prs_Prs_20080731&title=T-Mobile%20Offers%20Parents%20Peace%20of%20Mind%20With%20%22Family%20Allowances%22">T-Mobile announced the upcoming availability of Family Allowances.</A> This new feature, to be launched in August, allows parents to easily manage when and how their family members use their T-Mobile phones and service.

With Family Allowances, parents can give their teens an upfront monthly wireless allowance that works on all the phones T-Mobile offers--virtually eliminating the worry of surprise overages. The feature lets parents set and change limits for minutes, messages and downloads using a simple online tool. Once the allowance is reached, the feature shuts off service for that specific element and parents receive a notification. Parents can stay in contact with their family members by setting up "Always Allowed" numbers that will continue to connect, even after allowances have been spent. Any unlimited calling features that are included in a family's plan, such as myFaves and T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile, can also still be used, which preserves the value of the calling plan. Additional controls are available so parents can choose to set allowances on unlimited calling features, if desired.