T-Mobile was full of news this morning. Un-Carrier 9.0 was a pretty big one that brings the Un-Carrier benefits of the magenta carrier over to business customers plus a few extras like a .com address and custom emails too. That wasn’t the only news to come from the carrier this morning though. They also announced “The Un-Contract” and “Carrier Freedom” too.
The Un-Contract
Starting off with The Un-Contract T-Mobile announced that current Simple Choice Rate plans will never increase in price as long as you remain a customer and keep the plan. This carriers over to those that are on the unlimited 4G LTE plans who are guaranteed a price lock for a minimum of two years. All The Un-Contract is is a promise from T-Mobile that they won’t change your rate plan pricing. Not that I can personally think of a time when my plan has ever changed in price unless it was for a new promotion of some kind anyways.
“We’re the Un-carrier. Everything the carriers do, we un-do,†said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “The other guys have been throwing out all kinds of desperate, short-term promotions to suck you in and lock you down − only to jack up rates later. We’re not playing that game. The Un-contract is our promise to individuals, families and businesses of all sizes, that − while your price may go down − it won’t go up.â€
The wording on the unlimited plan seems a bit jinky to me though as they are keen to place the “two-year” verbiage in the press release a few different times. They do mention that the Un-Contract agreement that they are committing to provide to you kicks in on March 22nd for all Simple Choice plan holders. I assume that means I have two-years from that date before I have to wonder if my pricing changes on the 4G LTE unlimited 2-line $100 plan.
Carrier FreedomÂ
The second part of the announcement was focused on Carrier Freedom, which also officially goes live March 22nd. This is where T-Mobile wants to buy you into the carrier. Like previous promotions where they shelled out big bucks to pay off your contracts early termination fees, except this time they aim their sights on the financing customers. Primarily aimed at AT&T Next and Verizon Edge customers.
“The carriers will do everything they possibly can to lure you in − then screw you out of every possible penny while you’re locked in,†added Legere. “Now, the millions who feel stuck with AT&T Next and Verizon Edge can jump to T-Mobile at no risk. Carrier Freedom is the next phase in bringing more choice and flexibility to this broken industry.â€
In a nutshell T-Mobile will shell out up to $650 per line, up to 10 lines, to pay off your financed device on either carriers plans. That gives customers who are still halfway through a payment plan the ability to drop that Galaxy S5 with Verizon and snag the Galaxy S6 with T-Mobile. You do have to play the game accordingly though by porting your current number to T-Mobile, trade in the smartphone or tablet and get instant trade-in value for the what its worth. Once your final bill comes you submit it to T-mobile and they will ship you a pre-paid Visa card with the remaining device balance, minus the trade-in value previously paid, to you. So, say you owe $300 on your S5 and T-Mobile takes the trade in value for $120. You put $120 towards your new device with T-Mobile at the time of the port and then you get a pre-paid Visa for $180. At least, that is my understanding.
What are your thoughts on the two new additions to T-Mobiles push for dominance?
Via: T-Mobile | Un-Contract | Carrier Freedom
