T-Mobile Officially Unveils Uncarrier 4.0; They Will Get You Out of Your Contract

[dgstorm]

The bold and brash CEO of T-Mobile, John Legere, came out swinging today. He slammed his competitors by pointing out T-Mobile's phenomenal numbers for 2013. They are now the fastest growing wireless company with 4.4 Million new customers in 2013. He also drove a new attack home by officially unveiling Uncarrier 4.0. Just as we reported previously, T-Mobile plans to pay customer's early termination fees to get them to switch from their current carrier. Here's the full press release below with the juicy details bolded.

Legere even commented on AT&T's copy-cat idea... he said, "What moron would do that?"

T-Mobile Delivers Contract Freedom for Families By Paying Off Early Termination Fees

Company marks 1st anniversary of Un-carrier revolution by offering to reimburse entire amount of customers’ early termination fees when they switch from AT&T, Sprint or Verizon

LAS VEGAS — Jan. 8, 2014 — One year ago at International CES, T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) threw down the gauntlet, promising relief for customers fed up with a broken, arrogant wireless industry. Since then, the company has delivered on its promise with a relentless barrage of Un-carrier industry innovations.

In its latest move, T-Mobile is eliminating one of the last remaining obstacles for individuals and families wanting to switch from AT&T, Sprint or Verizon to the Un-carrier by offering to pay off their early termination fees. With an eligible phone trade-in, the total value of the offer to switch to T-Mobile could be as high as $650 per line.

“We’re giving families a ‘Get Out of Jail Free Card,’ said John Legere, president and chief executive officer of T-Mobile. “Carriers have counted on staggered contract end dates and hefty early termination fees to keep people bound to them forever. But now families can switch to T-Mobile without paying a single red cent to leave them behind.”

Customers have been flocking to T-Mobile for its no annual service contract Simple Choice Plan, industry-leading JUMP!™ upgrade program, unlimited global data at no extra charge in 100-plus countries, and most recently for Free Data for Life on every tablet — up to 200 MB of free 4G LTE data every month for as long as they own their tablet and use the registered device with T-Mobile. But Nielsen research suggests up to 40 percent of families hold back from switching because of high early termination fees (ETFs), and a recent online poll conducted by GigaOM suggests that 78 percent[ii]would switch to T-Mobile if their ETF was paid. ETFs can cost as much as $350 per line. Multiply that two, three or four times for a family, and switching becomes an extremely expensive proposition.

“Carriers like to make you think you’re just signing up for two years with their family plans, but with staggered expiration dates and early termination fees, they’re really locking you in forever,” said Mike Sievert, chief marketing officer for T-Mobile. “Now, families are free to switch without worrying about early termination fees. And by switching to T-Mobile, a family of four can save $1,880 over two years compared to an AT&T shared family plan[iii].”

Here’s how T-Mobile’s offer to pay off these fees works:

Starting tomorrow, customers from the three major national carriers who hand in their eligible devices at any participating T-Mobile location and switch to a postpaid Simple Choice Plan can receive an instant credit, based on the value of their phone, of up to $300. They then purchase any eligible device, including T-Mobile’s most popular smartphones, now priced at $0 down (plus 24 monthly device payments, for well-qualified customers). After customers get the final bill from their old carrier (showing their early termination fees), they either mail it to T-Mobile or upload it towww.switch2tmobile.com. T-Mobile then sends an additional payment equal to those fees, up to $350 per line. Trade-in of their old phone, purchase of a new T-Mobile phone and porting of their phone number to T-Mobile are required to qualify.

This offer to pay early termination fees provides families with a quick way to escape carrier contracts that have deterred them from pursuing a better and more affordable wireless experience with T-Mobile.

T-Mobile is also making it easier for its longtime customers to migrate to Simple Choice plans as well without incurring any migration fees. To qualify for this option a current customer under contract trades in their current device and purchases a new T-Mobile device and switches to Simple Choice. In addition to waiving the migration fee, T-Mobile will also eliminate the existing annual service contract for that customer’s line.

With a Simple Choice Plan from T-Mobile, families start with one line at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and Web with up to 500 MB of 4G LTE data. They can add a second phone line for $30 per month, and each additional line is just $10 per month. In short, a family could get four lines for just $100 per month (plus taxes and fees). The potential savings are so significant that if every single AT&T, Sprint and Verizon customer switched to a Simple Choice Plan, T-Mobile estimates they would save up to $20 billion [iv]collectively each year.

In addition to great family plan savings, individuals and families can also enjoy an incredible wireless experience thanks to T-Mobile’s rapidly expanding nationwide 4G LTE network– now the fastest[v]in the United States. For more information, visit the T-Mobile newsroom.

Tell us what you think of T-Mo's new idea. Will it continue to shake-up the mobile industry in the U.S.?

 

[mountainbikermark]

It's fastest because nobody is on it, relatively, and nobody is on it, relatively, because if they move 6' in any direction they lose their signal.
Verizon built a network, got folks addicted to that network and until someone gets an equal network with better pricing it won't change but 1 paper cut at a time.

Support Our Troops!!!
<><
s pen aholic in Beast Mode (Notetoo)

 

[akhenax]

If no one is on their network, then I see that as GOOD. I ran a speedtest in Brooklyn, NY at a TMo store, and their speeds were as fast if not faster than the speeds I was getting from my VZW device. I guess you can account that to VZW having way more customers on their network than TMo, but still, it's nice to get on a train that isn't crowded, get a seat, and ride in comfort, than fighting for a spot on the pole.

 

[jamjr74]

Tmobile LTE is fast but good luck finding it! I switched to Tmboile from Verizon and tried to love it to have unlimited data but I am right back with Verizon! T-Mobiles network is just not there and is very inconsistent. I went a lot of places where I didnt have service at all which is unacceptable! This is why they are shaking thigs up because thats the only way they can compete! If it works for you then great but it was a no go for me! As for this deal with paying ETF fees I thinks its pretty cool but the catch is to see how much they actually pay for the phone you trade in! If there gonna give me $100 for my $400 phone then it's just a gimmick, I could just sell my phone for $400 and pay the ETF myself!

 

[johnomaz]

Ug, I switched from ATT a few months ago and paid my cancellation fee. Would have totally waited if I knew this was coming. For those of you talking about TMobile's data being sketchy, I will agree to a point. I don't have full bars all the time (or even most of the time) but the signal I do have is strong. I live in Turlock, CA and we are getting LTE rolled out right now. We aren't a big town, but its here. ATT and Verizon had to start somewhere and so does TMobile. I happen to have wifi where I am at for work and home so data isn't that big of a concern. I've had their Edge signal keep Google Music streaming in the car and thats about as much data I use when I'm in the car. I don't nee full bars and 30Mbps to be happy. 10Mbps on their HSPA network is more than usable.

 

[jamjr74]

Yeah I woulda stayed if I had hspa on a steady basis but I could not deal with edge and 2g to save a few bucks. I have 4g lte on Verizon 95% of the time. When and if t-mobile network catches up I may consider it again.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[kodiak799]

If they spent this money on building a decent network instead of literally buying customers...then they might actually keep some of their customers.

It's a nice strategy, but eventually investors want to see, you know, a profit.

 

[jamjr74]

The T-Mobile site says they will give me $175 for my S4. I am sure I could sell it for aroung $400 so that is a loss of $225 on my end. Depending on what my ETF would be this could be a good or bad deal!!!

 

[jackiescivic]

T-Mobile is a pile of horse dung in this area. My city gets 1x speeds and 10 minutes away they have 4G. I don't think I would ever consider leaving Verizon, especially for T-Mobile. Now if Moto came out with a Maxx - like phone on another carrier, I *might* consider it.


Sent from my Droid Maxx

 

[jamjr74]

I've been hoping Google would throw their hat into the ring and become a provider.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[solution]

Ug, I switched from ATT a few months ago and paid my cancellation fee. Would have totally waited if I knew this was coming. For those of you talking about TMobile's data being sketchy, I will agree to a point. I don't have full bars all the time (or even most of the time) but the signal I do have is strong. I live in Turlock, CA and we are getting LTE rolled out right now. We aren't a big town, but its here. ATT and Verizon had to start somewhere and so does TMobile. I happen to have wifi where I am at for work and home so data isn't that big of a concern. I've had their Edge signal keep Google Music streaming in the car and thats about as much data I use when I'm in the car. I don't nee full bars and 30Mbps to be happy. 10Mbps on their HSPA network is more than usable.

I'm about an hour or so south from ya in Bakersfield and the service here with Tmo is 100% better than it was a year ago. Whenever my friends would come over my pad a year ago with their Tmo phones they would not get a single bar. It was like the tmo cell towers disappeared lol. About a month ago I picked up a Nexus 5 and put it on Tmobile. So far the service has been excellent. I get full bars at home, which tells me they've been doing some upgrading in the last 12 months. The LTE I will admit is spotty in certain areas but all I really care about is having spotify running when I go on my bike rides. I went on a 20 mile bike the other day ride from the local university to Interstate 5 which is 10 miles out of town and spotify did not drop once. Pretty sweet! I have my sister on AT&T and I'll be looking into switching her to TMO this weekend.