T-Mobile USA to Carry iPhone Beginning April 12th, Using New 'Uncarrier' Payment Plan

[co.ag.2005]

sure... but it's slower... there's articles out there in each carrier's performance tests and I think you'd be really surprised if you were to at least look into it.

T-Mobile rocks in my area, in fact T-Mobile's 3G speeds are faster than ATT's and you factor in their 4G (Not even LTE) it screams.

I find it strange how people WANT to pay more... It's like trying to get someone to at least try a COKE over PEPSI. People like their brands.

people don't want to pay more, they just want to pay more for better service. for me, T-Mobile only has EDGE and very slow HSPA (EDGE-like speeds) where I live and for most of my commute to/from work (I take the bus everyday). Whereas, AT&T has fast "4G" (6-10Mbps down) and then LTE when I get to downtown Denver. Sure, T-Mobile has fast "4G" in downtown Denver, but it's not worth having EDGE everywhere else around the metro or where I travel.

But, I know this will be different for different places. I'll definitely keep an eye on their network here and will see what it looks like when they upgrade to LTE and maybe get those pesky EDGE-only towers to 3G/4G.

 

[mrongey]

If you're the type of person who is content to buy one phone every two years, is there any reason to switch to T-mobile? Unless I'm missing something, it seems like you would just be spending $580 per phone instead of $200.

Edit: Plan prices and coverage improvements aside.

 

[zoozx]

Over 2 years

T-mobile =$1780 plus taxes unlimited use

AT&T = $2259.76 plus taxes 450 min voice, unlimited text messaging, 3gb Data

Substantial savings $580.00 and no limits on use. And you get the modified iphone 5.


What am i missing?

Is the T-moble network equal to the AT&T network? Close?

 

[InfoTime]

Your mistaken if you think you can upgrade every 12 months at the full upgrade price. It's generally 18 months but again they have you committed for another 2 years. For people who want to keep their phones longer you can save substantially with Tmobile. The performance increases on the new phones have dropped considerably. My fiance has the 4S and I got the 5 and its nothing like the jump from previous generations.

Personally saving a couple grand over 2 years is enough for me to switch. I'm amazed people have accepted paying the prices for wireless service. Bleeding edge technology is becoming less and less important

I bought the original iPhone in September of 2007, about three months after launch. I've bought every model since then at launch. Less than 12 months on the first upgrade, a few more on one of them when they moved the launch from the Summer to Fall, but overall it's been about 12 months on every single one of them at the full upgrade pricing.

Plus, if you sell your year-old phone at that time you generally break even on the transaction.

Again, I don't get why people hang on to their old iPhones for so long.

 

[Vegastouch]

I'm guessing I can't use my AT&T iPhone 5 on the Tmobile network correct? I ask because I had read before that they were "refarming" their spectrum to use the same bandas AT&T.

Will work on HSPA+21 but not HSPA+ 42. And it was announced there will be no software update by Apple.

This Here is good news for those who get a iPhone with T-Mo but then want to go elsewhere with it. They will unlock it from Apple for you....once you pay it off.

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T-Mobile smokes Verizon in LTE test speeds with iPhone 5.

Check out this video

 

[SkippyThorson]

A used, previous generation iPhone at $350 on the MacRumors Marketplace, plus a Straight Talk $45 a month unlimited everything plan is still the best deal. Plus, being a generation behind every year still gets me a great, fully-capable iPhone at a fraction of the price of new, and I get to upgrade every year.

I fail to see T-Mobile's big, incredible deal yet. Plus, the coverage in my area has already proven to be utter trash. There was a time where I would have supported T-Mobile all day long. Although Straight Talk setup proved to be a headache, the cost of ownership is well worth it.

 

[aneftp]

For those claiming that on family plans you come out better with AT&T/Verizon, the folks at Tmonews have posted up an editorial showing how T-Mobile is the better value no matter how you put it (as long as they have good coverage in your area).

http://www.tmonews.com/2013/03/editorial-t-mobiles-new-plans-are-awesome-for-everyone/

Ugh No!

Notice they stop at 3 lines.

Like some of us say. The math is fuzzy especially lines 4 and up.

And not everyone needs what they claim u need.

I have a 4 line family plan. 2 smartphone unlimited. 2 flips. $155 is my total bill with ATt. Inclided unlimited texts already and 24% FAN discount.

So the new plans work for some. It's doesnt work or isn't worth it for those with 4-5 postpaid lines with att or verizon.

 

[unlimitedx]

Over 2 years

T-mobile =$1780 plus taxes unlimited use

AT&T = $2259.76 plus taxes 450 min voice, unlimited text messaging, 3gb Data

Substantial savings $580.00 and no limits on use. And you get the modified iphone 5.


What am i missing?

Is the T-moble network equal to the AT&T network? Close?

the tmobile iPhone will support AWS, t-mobile's frequencies, so yes it will be fast in my area!

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Ugh No!

Notice they stop at 3 lines.

Like some of us say. The math is fuzzy especially lines 4 and up.

And not everyone needs what they claim u need.

I have a 4 line family plan. 2 smartphone unlimited. 2 flips. $155 is my total bill with ATt. Inclided unlimited texts already and 24% FAN discount.

So the new plans work for some. It's doesnt work or isn't worth it for those with 4-5 postpaid lines with att or verizon.

don't forget another benefit, is that now t-mobile will let you use smartphones without bundling in a data plan, as an extra line includes 500mb already. with at&t, if you were to convert the two flip phones to smart phones, it will cost a minimum $20 extra per phone. large data plan is not necessary for folks living/working in places with tons of wifi zones

 

[UnfetteredMind]

:-o

19€ for unlimited 100mbit/s internet inclusive unlimited homeline (which i never use but its included with any internet plan by default so whatever)

11€ iPad 1GB data (which i literally havent used ever, im always on wifi with my iPad, so technically i should have just gotten the wifi only version)

35€ iPhone, the phone itself was 1€

premium deluxe cable tv + HD 19€

My a$$ seems a little sore now for some reason ...

 

[Lancetx]

I bought the original iPhone in September of 2007, about three months after launch. I've bought every model since then at launch. Less than 12 months on the first upgrade, a few more on one of them when they moved the launch from the Summer to Fall, but overall it's been about 12 months on every single one of them at the full upgrade pricing.

That's funny because AT&T won't let me upgrade the 4S that I bought on launch day (Oct 2011) until this May unless I pay a $250 premium. I've been with AT&T since 2007 too (with a single line of service and a monthly bill around $85), so they won't let everyone do what you're talking about.

I think I'm going to switch to T-Mobile so I can upgrade every year if I want and not have to play the stupid subsidy game with them any longer. I can afford to pay for the phone up front so that part doesn't matter to me anyway, I'd just like to be able to do it every year if I want without paying them a $250 premium for the privilege of doing so.

 

[milo]

But if you went with the sharing data plans. Unlimited text/talk and say 6GB of data. That comes out to $40/line x 4 ($140) plus $70 for 4GB of data. That's about $210 a month

That is a much better deal than doing it the other way (without the shared data plan, it's way more expensive), don't know why they don't make it easier to find on their site. So that's $230 monthly for 6 gigs shared over four lines (oddly for four lines, 4 gigs and 6 gigs end up being the same price).

Four lines with 2 gigs each on TM is $140 a month. So over 20 months (not sure why you're going with 20 instead of 24 but whatever), that's a savings of $1800, without the subsidy that's $200. So less of a difference although still some advantages for TM: that $200 savings, no contract, the option to not upgrade phones and save the money instead of losing the subsidy, 2 gigs of data versus 1.5. Plus much more phone choices, including saving money by getting a used phone or any other phone that costs less than $400.

I have 4 lines, 2 with smartphone unlimited. and 2 flip lines. Costs me $155 total (including taxes). I get a $400 subsidy per line x 4 lines. that's $1600 in subsidy with ATT. I get a 24% discount.

What do you mean by flip lines? Like basic phones as opposed to smart phones? And how much data on the smart phones? Looking at the ATT web site, I don't see any options comparable to what you have, I don't know if you are maybe grandfathered in on an old plan.

One disadvantage of the TM options is they don't seem to have any of the even cheaper options for people without smart phones. Or plans that are cheaper because they have a fixed number of minutes - I'm actually on TM now with an older plan of 1000 shared minutes for two phones - the unlimited data is appealing, but it would end up costing me more because of going from 1000 minutes to unlimited. Although for an extra twenty bucks, it might be worth it if we used our cel phones for just about everything and switched our home phone to the bare minimum.

 

[Frankied22]

I'll stick with my $30 T-Mobile plan (100 minutes, unlimited text, 5gb of 4G data and then edge) and just swap it between my unlocked iPhone 5 and my N4. I am not impressed with this "new" T-Mobile.

 

[InfoTime]

That's funny because AT&T won't let me upgrade the 4S that I bought on launch day (Oct 2011) until this May unless I pay a $250 premium. I've been with AT&T since 2007 too (with a single line of service and a monthly bill around $85), so they won't let everyone do what you're talking about.

I think I'm going to switch to T-Mobile so I can upgrade every year if I want and not have to play the stupid subsidy game with them any longer. I can afford to pay for the phone up front so that part doesn't matter to me anyway, I'd just like to be able to do it every year if I want without paying them a $250 premium for the privilege of doing so.

I think you need to be at about $100 a month to qualify. I did help one of my clients upgrade anyway. We called customer service and asked. Mentioned that we were thinking about switching to Verizon (we were), and they happily waived the waiting period. They even waived the activation fees and / or upgrade charges.

Won't you be paying a $240 premium to upgrade your T-Mobile phone every year?

 

[milo]

I have a 4 line family plan. 2 smartphone unlimited. 2 flips. $155 is my total bill with ATt. Inclided unlimited texts already and 24% FAN discount.

So if two of your phones are flip phones, what are you spending that $400 per line subsidy on? Does anyone make a $400 flip phone? Or were you able to use it to buy a smartphone but sell it instead of using it on that line, or something like that?

And what do you mean by "unlimited"? ATT doesn't offer unlimited data at all, unless you are grandfathered into an old plan which isn't available any more, and probably throttles after a certain point.

 

[Lancetx]

I think you need to be at about $100 a month to qualify. I did help one of my clients upgrade anyway. We called customer service and asked. Mentioned that we were thinking about switching to Verizon (we were), and they happily waived the waiting period. They even waived the activation fees and / or upgrade charges.

Won't you be paying a $240 premium to upgrade your T-Mobile phone every year?

I guess that depends on what an unlocked one year old used iPhone would sell for versus the price of buying the new one at full price to replace it. Plus also factor in that my monthly bill would drop to $60 (I can get by for now on their 2.5GB data plan, as I only have 2GB with AT&T currently). To me it would be worth it to not have to play the subsidy/contract games anyway.

 

[2298754]

Is the T-moble network equal to the AT&T network? Close?

Not even close. go look at their network coverage.

They only have 3G in top metro areas and EDGE everywhere else. LTE will be in those top areas, that's it. Most all major highways, etc are all GPRS/EDGE.


For example, I can drive from Boston to Washington DC and never loose LTE service on AT&T or Verizon, but with T-Mobile? Can't even stream Pandora because they cover most major highways with EDGE service. Practically useless.

 

[CEmajr]

Over 2 years

T-mobile =$1780 plus taxes unlimited use

AT&T = $2259.76 plus taxes 450 min voice, unlimited text messaging, 3gb Data

Substantial savings $580.00 and no limits on use. And you get the modified iphone 5.


What am i missing?

Is the T-moble network equal to the AT&T network? Close?

T-Mobile is weak in rural areas and between cities. If you do a lot of traveling on long trips or live in a rural area, I probably wouldn't recommend them. I'm in my hometown 80% of the time and it's as good as or better than AT&T here.

 

[co.ag.2005]

Not even close. go look at their network coverage.

They only have 3G in top metro areas and EDGE everywhere else. LTE will be in those top areas, that's it. Most all major highways, etc are all GPRS/EDGE.


For example, I can drive from Boston to Washington DC and never loose LTE service on AT&T or Verizon, but with T-Mobile? Can't even stream Pandora because they cover most major highways with EDGE service. Practically useless.

same here going 25 miles from Evergreen to Denver... (except AT&T goes from what I consider fast HSPA+ to LTE, but streaming works fine nonetheless).

I do hope that T-Mobile ups its speeds/towers here in the Denver metro and I would consider switching.

 

[lildimsum7]

I'll stick with my $30 T-Mobile plan (100 minutes, unlimited text, 5gb of 4G data and then edge) and just swap it between my unlocked iPhone 5 and my N4. I am not impressed with this "new" T-Mobile.

my thoughts too! Actually, the $30 plan is 5 gb of 4G, then 3G, right?

You can buy a N4 unlocked starting $300. If you get the $350 version and do this plan for 24 months, that's $1,070 for 2 years. That's a lot of savings compared to these new plans.

 

[aneftp]

So if two of your phones are flip phones, what are you spending that $400 per line subsidy on? Does anyone make a $400 flip phone? Or were you able to use it to buy a smartphone but sell it instead of using it on that line, or something like that?

And what do you mean by "unlimited"? ATT doesn't offer unlimited data at all, unless you are grandfathered into an old plan which isn't available any more, and probably throttles after a certain point.

No silly.

U pay $199 for new iPhone. Immediately resell it on Craigslist/eBay for $550-600. Pocket the difference.

ATT doesn't require data on that line as long as u switch it to a flip phone line. I have my mother using flip phone cause she could care less about smartphones. So I keep the line open for my mother. She's perfectly fine using a $50 Nokia flip phone I got her 3 years ago.

 

[tasset]

No silly.

U pay $199 for new iPhone. Immediately resell it on Craigslist/eBay for $550-600. Pocket the difference.

ATT doesn't require data on that line as long as u switch it to a flip phone line. I have my mother using flip phone cause she could care less about smartphones. So I keep the line open for my mother. She's perfectly fine using a $50 Nokia flip phone I got her 3 years ago.

I am familiar with this strategy. And while I have done this myself and have no love for the Death Star, I do wonder when they will make changes to terms or plans to mitigate this loss of revenue.

 

[milo]

U pay $199 for new iPhone. Immediately resell it on Craigslist/eBay for $550-600. Pocket the difference.

ATT doesn't require data on that line as long as u switch it to a flip phone line. I have my mother using flip phone cause she could care less about smartphones. So I keep the line open for my mother. She's perfectly fine using a $50 Nokia flip phone I got her 3 years ago.

So you're paying $199 plus two years of subsidy to get a phone which you turn around and sell for about break even if that. Yeah, I think most people would rather not bother with all the fuss and just pay a lot less every month.

 

[aneftp]

So you're paying $199 plus two years of subsidy to get a phone which you turn around and sell for about break even if that. Yeah, I think most people would rather not bother with all the fuss and just pay a lot less every month.

I don't think u understand. My mother who I added a line for $10 extra a month is perfectly happy with her Nokia flip phone that's 3 years old.

Once you are eligible for an upgrade. U need to use it ASAP unless u plan on leaving ATT altogether.

U pay the same $10 add a line regardless if u use the upgrade or not.

Why not use it on a phone with guaranteed resell value? Buy the iPhone 5 and resell it for $400 (maybe $350 profit).

Get it. The line is going to be using a flip phone anyways but eligible for an upgrade every 20 month. U are leaving money on the table by not upgrading right away. ATT/Verizon do not require data on lines where flip phones are used.

Many people do this. It's no secret.

That's why carriers burned themselves all promoting we have 100 million customers. But the real fact is carriers got to 100 million by counting family add a line.

That's why verizon stopped reporting per line revenue and only counting per acct revenue.

And that's the real reason for the push towards these "share data plans". Because with the data sharing. There is only a $5 difference between a smartphone line and a flip phone line.

 

[milo]

I don't think u understand.

I understand perfectly. You're happy doing it that way but many people would prefer a plan that's simpler in the first place. Instead of being required to pay extra every month and trying to get it back by buying a phone and then selling it off, people just don't pay that extra in the first place. There are plenty of options for people who already own a three year old flip phone, simple ones and cheap ones.

Again, if it works for you that's great, but it's not exactly a mainstream use situation.

 

[aneftp]

I understand perfectly. You're happy doing it that way but many people would prefer a plan that's simpler in the first place. Instead of being required to pay extra every month and trying to get it back by buying a phone and then selling it off, people just don't pay that extra in the first place. There are plenty of options for people who already own a three year old flip phone, simple ones and cheap ones.

Again, if it works for you that's great, but it's not exactly a mainstream use situation.

Huh?

I beg to differ what I do is pretty mainstream. Many older people could care less for smartphones. If we have no intention of canceling the line. My mother uses that line. What am i wasting with a line being used everyday as a flip phone by my mother. Why not use the subsidy? It doesn't make any sense what you are saying. What u are saying is don't use the subsidy?

It's easy to sell a brand new in the box iPhone. Retails for $650 plus taxes. So $700. U put it for $550-600. I guarantee u especially back in October you will get a buyer within 5 minutes of posting on Craigslist. No hassle at all. I meet them in the grocery store or Starbucks 5 minutes away. Zero hassle.

Like I said. This is one of the reasons Verizon moved to the share everything plan. They aren't being nice.

Verizon recognized along with ATT they were in a pickle. They generated "net" customer gains big time from 2005-2011. But they were really family add a line gains and not per revenue gain.

The market is changing quickly. Carriers give away voice minutes and texts now. They all push data.

The USA has one of the most expensive phone markets for single line users.

But carriers decided in the mid 2000s to start pushing these family plans. Now they have to compete with each other. Competition is good.

Or else we can deal with Canadian 3 year phone plans n