In addition to T-Mobile’s earlier CES announcements – wherein the company announced the launch of its new HD voice and LTE networks, as well as a new unlimited 4G data off-contract plan – the Deutsche Telekom-owned US carrier also said that in three to four months, it will start selling the iPhone to customers and removing its handset subsidies.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that the removal of subsidies and the offering of the iPhone could increase the GSM carrier’s US market share by up to five percent, bringing the company closer in terms of market share to its biggest nationwide rivals AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Offering phones without subsidies gives customers the opportunity to have no-contract plans, meaning that their payments would be lower and that they could leave the carrier at any time – which Legere thinks will give consumers a reason to switch.
Of course, if those things weren’t good enough, T-Mobile is also in the stages of acquiring US carrier MetroPCS to expand its admittedly shoddy coverage. Better coverage, cheaper plans, and the availability of the popular iPhone seem to be what T-Mobile is betting on for the future.
Whether or not the carrier will succeed will be found out after all the changes have been made. Will you be making the switch to T-Mobile when its plans are completed?
[Reuters]
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A bad move on their part. Make it an option, but still offer a contract. Imagine a family of four – who has two grand to throw down on phones when switching carriers?
You won’t have to pay for the phone upfront. They will include it in the bill for a while.
In all honesty this isn’t a bad idea. Lower the monthly phone bill and let people upgrade phones as they want. I’d love to upgrade my phone right now but I’m not due for another 9 months. With unsubsidized phones and lower monthly bills I’d probably upgrade my phone more often.
Another flipside is that people that will use a phone for 4 years will save money in the long run. I know some people that haven’t upgraded their phones in years. The only winner there is the telecom.
Now Verizon will find some fantabulous way to really jack up the deal. Kind of like they did with the “share everything” plan that you actually only share a smaller pool of data for the same price. “Share Everything” is just about the stupidest name ever for their current plan.
So they give you a bill showing your charge for phone and data, and charge you over time for the phone? Still sounds like a subsidy to me.
I see how it would be great for someone who doesn’t want the latest and greatest, but if I was in that camp id buy an evo v on eBay for a hundred bucks and take the 50 a month for virgin mobile with wimax vs 70 for t mobile with hspa+.