T-Mobile USA Launches Effort to Attract 'Bring Your Own iPhone' Customers

There's no 3G on the iPhone yet in my area but once it's up Tmobile will be the absolute best major carrier for iPhones.

Can't beat $69.99 for unlimited everything with no data caps, throttling, or overages. $64.99 for me since I only need 500 minutes.

Hopefully this can put some pressure on AT&T.

They also should add the WiFi calling app to the app store.

Tiger8 said:

Never had T-Mobile, but from what I heard they are a great company. I am going to break my Sprint 4s contract (and pay the termination fee) and get the 5 unlocked and use prepaid T-Mobile or Straighttalk, or between the two of them, let them earn my business every month, and if I don't like them I'll leave and take my number with me.

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I have had T-Mobile in the past. In NYC, they are better than AT&T. In New Jersey, not so much. On the whole, I have found their coverage to be good in urban areas, OK in suburban areas, and wanting in rural areas. On the positive side, their network is less congested than AT&T's, so when you do have a good connection, you usually get strong download speeds.

oh good! I will bring this up when I call att to convince them I will cancel unless they give me a upgrade I will use this as compelling information.

Are you able to use Bobsled for making calls through Wi-Fi and/or on T-mobile network (data)?

HangmanSwingset said:

I switched to T-Mobile around the 19th of last month.
Sucks that I'm on EDGE right now, but it gives me just enough speed to stream 107.7 the End.
Plus with 3G coming soon, things are only going to get better.
$30/month for 100 minutes, unlimited messaging, and unlimited data is pretty amazing, even if it's only the first 5GB at 3G/4G speeds.

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OriginalMacRat said:

Their even better plan is the 100min/5GB for $30/mo.

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How do you get that? I could only see 500min 2GB for $45

KPOM said:

Will they have nano-SIM cards available?

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That is the $64 question. At this point no one is saying that really knows either way.

I have an iPhone4 and have been holding out for the 5. However the 100 min unlimited data T-mobile plan is tempting. They make it hard to find on their site (http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans). Even if the nano sim isn't available for the 5, I have to believe that the 4s unlocked will drop in price making that an option as well. Of course still no 4G HSPA+ in my area yet so may be a moot point. I wish tmo would just say where this is coming to.

Also beware that if you get the micro sim, standard process will not allow the 100 min/unlimited data plan. You either need to pick a more expensive plan or get a normal size sim cut to size. Maybe other options but it is not as easy at any rate.

jtp098 said:

oh good! I will bring this up when I call att to convince them I will cancel unless they give me a upgrade I will use this as compelling information.

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It's too bad that consumers feel so entitled that they do something like this. You signed a contract. What a shame it'd be if you had to honor that.

NathanMuir said:

I would be mildly interested when/ if they bring 4G/LTE to my area and announce costs.

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Don't expect LTE on tmobile anytime soon. There is a reason they wanted to sell to AT&T, the parent company doesn't want them anymore. There will be little investment in network infrastructure. They will continue to expand their current "4G" (HSPA) network, which is incompatible with the iPhone.

Tiger8 said:

Never had T-Mobile, but from what I heard they are a great company. I am going to break my Sprint 4s contract (and pay the termination fee) and get the 5 unlocked and use prepaid T-Mobile or Straighttalk, or between the two of them, let them earn my business every month, and if I don't like them I'll leave and take my number with me.

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Just got off the phone with T-Mobile. They offered me 500 minutes+UNLIMITED TEXT+UNLIMITED DATA...NO THROTTLING for $64.99/mo+tax, etc!!! Now that's if you bring your own phone.

If you buy a Galaxy SIII or something with a plan, it is $90/mo+tax etc which is what I'm paying on AT&T anyway. Coverage is awesome in all the areas I'm usually in and given that I use MAYBE 150 minutes/month on AT&T, I think I'm jumping ship

KPOM said:

Will they have nano-SIM cards available?

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G2244 said:

That is the $64 question. At this point no one is saying that really knows either way.

I have an iPhone4 and have been holding out for the 5. However the 100 min unlimited data T-mobile plan is tempting. Even if the nano sim isn't available for the 5, I have to believe that the 4s unlocked will drop in price making that an option as well. Of course still no 4G HSPA+ in my area yet so may be a moot point. I wish tmo would just say where this is coming to.

Also beware that if you get the micro sim, standard process will not allow the 100 min/unlimited data plan. You either need to pick a more expensive plan or get a normal size sim cut to size. Maybe other options but it is not as easy at any rate.

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I don't think they would be able to offer support to new iPhone owners without having nano-sims available. So I'd say yes.

It sure is an interesting strategy isn't it, and T-Mobile sure does have some great rates. Part of me feels like I just can't trust them though. Idk, my first cell phone in 7th grade was on T-Mobile and it wasn't great, but that was 10 years ago now (whoa).

Mr Hill said:

There's no 3G on the iPhone yet in my area but once it's up Tmobile will be the absolute best major carrier for iPhones.

Can't beat $69.99 for unlimited everything with no data caps, throttling, or overages. $64.99 for me since I only need 500 minutes.

Hopefully this can put some pressure on AT&T.

They also should add the WiFi calling app to the app store.

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Their 3G isn't compatible with the iPhone. Different frequency, which isn't available on the iPhone.

Which T-Mobile plan includes a wine and dine with their hot, motorcycle-riding whatshername?

Anyone know if those of us using 2g on T-Mobile will just automatically be able to get 3g? I have the $9.99 plan, not sure if that's T-Zones or what. Will I just automatically be able to use their 3G once it's available in my area or are there extra costs involved?

i-John said:

Don't expect LTE on tmobile anytime soon. There is a reason they wanted to sell to AT&T, the parent company doesn't want them anymore. There will be little investment in network infrastructure. They will continue to expand their current "4G" (HSPA) network, which is incompatible with the iPhone.

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Did you not read the article? Seriously. Their network will be compatible with the iPhone.

BTW: T-Mobile will have LTE-A in 2013.

G2244 said:

That is the $64 question. At this point no one is saying that really knows either way.

Also beware that if you get the micro sim, standard process will not allow the 100 min/unlimited data plan. You either need to pick a more expensive plan or get a normal size sim cut to size. Maybe other options but it is not as easy at any rate.

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I was able to order the $30 plan with a Micro-SIM a few months ago. Also, I think it's relatively easy to walk into a store and get a SIM card swapped.

i-John said:

Their 3G isn't compatible with the iPhone. Different frequency, which isn't available on the iPhone.

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willryan42 said:

Anyone know if those of us using 2g on T-Mobile will just automatically be able to get 3g? I have the $9.99 plan, not sure if that's T-Zones or what. Will I just automatically be able to use their 3G once it's available in my area or are there extra costs involved?

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I don't believe the $9.99 plan will work. I'm pretty sure it's T-Zones or whatever it's called now, but I could be wrong.

KPOM said:

Why not take the release of the iPhone as an opportunity to announce that you'll be carrying the iPhone instead? It will be a hard sell to convince people to purchase an unlocked iPhone for $649 upfront, and there aren't many iPhone 4S models that are out of contract.

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If they worked with Verizon and Sprint phones too, it would offer a larger market. Even if you were paying $650, it comes out cheaper over two years. The price of a used 4S should drop when the new phones hit, so this won't be so big of an issue.

chrmjenkins said:

They're doing everything short of offering bill credits to customers who bring their own iphone and sign up for a two year contract. (which I think they should do IMO).

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Bleh... you're missing the point. Their unsubsidized plans are cheaper. If you bring your own phone or use one that is no longer under contract on one of these plans, you pay less than you would on a subsidized plan from the same company. Offering bill credits is pointless when you can just set the plan pricing in a way that lacks a built in high interest loan.

w0by said:

I paid $28.00 to some website to have my iPhone 4s to be unlocked. Within 24 hours they told me to back up my phone, put a T-Mobile sim in and sure enough it was unlocked and I sold it to someone. I also have a 3Gs as a backup, I called AT&T and asked them to unlock it and they did. Btw I wonder how these websites are able to unlock any iPhone on AT&T anyways? They must be paying off AT&T or something, I have no clue.

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Stole this from another site:

I think a bunch of them are scams, but really all they need is to be a "cellular reseller", claim your IMEI as one of their customers, then they just put in the request to Apple, from what I understand. It's all pretty much automated on Apple's side and Apple doesn't give a damn if your phone is unlocked or not. Of course that would be totally different, no doubt, if Apple got a cut of the service income, but as it is they just sell the devices and are done with it.

KPOM said:

Why not take the release of the iPhone as an opportunity to announce that you'll be carrying the iPhone instead? It will be a hard sell to convince people to purchase an unlocked iPhone for $649 upfront, and there aren't many iPhone 4S models that are out of contract.

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See the terms of the deal Sprint had to make to get to carry the iPhone: overwhelmingly great for Apple, not so great for Sprint unless Sprint gets tons of iPhone subscribers to switch to them. While I think Sprint is happy to be in this little club now, I don't think having the iPhone is going that well for Sprint. Yes, they're getting a bunch of iPhone subscribers... but are they getting enough iPhone subscribers to justify the volume of iPhones they have to buy from Apple? At the time, many suggested that this deal could bankrupt Sprint if they didn't get enough iPhone sales volume. Maybe Tmobile doesn't want to set up the same "this could bust us" risk profile?

It's not a matter of Tmobile or others just deciding to carry the iPhone. Apple really flexes their muscles. There's nothing particularly wrong with the latter but we shouldn't imagine that it's just an easy choice to decide "Yes, we'll carry the iPhone now." If it was that easy, Tmobile would have had it years ago (along with just about everyone else too).

Some of you guys don't get it. Why would you sign a 2 year contract with T-Mobile when you are bringing your own unlocked iphone? T-Mobile prepaid is where I see the best plans.

why do you think this screams desperate?
this is awesome that T-mo would be trying to do this for customers.

apple needs to agree to let them sell it, and obviously this is not the case.

TOYSTER17 said:

Did you not read the article? Seriously. Their network will be compatible with the iPhone.

BTW: T-Mobile will have LTE-A in 2013.

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So will Sprint, AT&T and Verizon.

EDIT: Not trying to argue or anything. Just wanted to throw that out there. LTE-A will be the norm next year (as far as deployment goes). LTE is, I would say, more a transition from 3G to true 4G.

Cingular said:

Some of you guys don't get it. Why would you sign a 2 year contract with T-Mobile when you are bringing your own unlocked iphone? T-Mobile prepaid is where I see the best plans.

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$50 unlimited everything when I checked in the Tmo store a few weeks back. My concerns are slow data speeds (don't want 2g, whatsoever) and then possible throttling.

Why is $69 + tax AND agree to be locked into a 2 year contract without having received a subsidized iPhone any better of a deal than the $45 unlimited Straight Talk deal or the $40 Simple Mobile deal, either of which MVNOs using the Tmobile towers? And for that matter, it's not even a better deal than the off-contract prices Tmobile offers on their prepaid options as others have mentioned!