Straight Talk makes the cost of smartphone ownership slightly more bearable than the usual US providers, offering unlimited talk and data (albeit throttled after 3GB) for $45. Now the company is doing its part to bring the rates down, so to speak, for tablets as well. The carrier recently introduced tablet plans, and now customers can bring just about any GSM tablet over to take advantage of them rather than purchase one from the carrier. They just need to buy a SIM card and pick a data plan to get started.

Options range from 1GB ($15 a month) to 5GB ($50). They're not particularly bad rates, but they're not exactly the discount you might expect either. Excluding the smallest plan, the rates match that of AT&T. As for T-Mobile, the Un-carrier will charge more for its 1GB plan ($20), but $50 will net 7GB. And if you attach your T-Mobile tablet to an existing phone plan for an extra $10, there's little reason to look elsewhere (except for, I don't know, T-Mobile's limited network coverage).

But if you already rely on Straight Talk for your smartphone coverage, you now have the option to bring over just about any tablet as well. And if you use the slate for voice chats or something, then the carrier's name still makes sense.

Source: Straight Talk blog