T-Mobile's 'Un-Carrier 4.0' Initiative Offers Up to $350 Per Line to Switch Carriers

[MacRumors]

T-Mobile today announced its Un-Carrier 4.0 initiative, which will see the company offering to pay up to $350 in early termination fees for individuals and families (up to five lines) who switch from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon to T-Mobile. Coupled with phone trade-ins, customers can receive up to $650 per line to change carriers.

"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."

Beginning tomorrow, customers who hand in eligible AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint devices at a participating T-Mobile location will receive an instant credit of up to $300 based on the value of the phone.

After purchasing a new device from T-Mobile, customers can send the final bill (with early termination fees) from their previous carriers to T-Mobile and the company will send an additional payment of up to $350 per line to pay those fees (actual fee paid is based on the early termination cost) in the form of a prepaid MasterCard.

Trading in an old phone, purchasing a new T-Mobile phone, porting a phone number, and signing up for a new T-Mobile plan are all required to quality for T-Mobile's new program.

Earlier this month, AT&T also announced plans to offer up to $450 in credits for customers switching from T-Mobile to AT&T. The company pays up to $250 for the trade-in of a current smartphone, plus an additional $200 for transferring wireless service.

T-Mobile counts this as its fourth initiative to disrupt traditional mobile service. The first came in March when the company unveiled its "Un-Carrier" plans that uncoupled device costs from service costs, while the second and third initiatives included the company's Jump upgrade plan and its unlimited texting and 2G data in 100 countries.

T-Mobile and competitor AT&T have been participating ongoing feud in 2013, which began after T-Mobile CEO John Legere called the AT&T network "crap." Most recently, AT&T threw John Legere out of a party hosted by the company at CES 2014.

Article Link: T-Mobile's 'Un-Carrier 4.0' Initiative Offers Up to $350 Per Line to Switch Carriers

 

[treyjustice]

bye bye AT&T

 

[avanpelt]

One word: aggressive.

 

[ZacNicholson]

t mobile is trying really hard to get people to switch

 

[MattMJB0188]

All down for T-Mobile succeeding, but they need to fix the inconsistent HSPA data and upgrade EDGE to at least 3G. Why so much EDGE and GPRS in 2014, T-Mobile?

Once they fix the swiss cheese coverage, they'll be a real threat to AT&T and Verizon.

 

[Stewie]

If only they had decent coverage in my area along with better US roaming I would switch back to T-Mobile. Sadly where I live and work coverage is not very good and if you travel at all you might as well forget about tmobile. 50MB of roaming data is pathetic.

 

[arian19]

Most recently, AT&T threw John Legere out of a party hosted by the company at CES 2014.

They threw him out of a party... come on, that is a bit harsh....

 

[iMikeT]

$350 for families, that's it? What about incentives for individuals?

 

[WaxedJacket]

OH HI CES

 

[spoonie1972]

Bold.

I love it.

Wind is very aggressive price-wise in Canada - I wish they had the deep pockets (and built a larger, more stable network) to disrupt the collusion of the tri-opoly running the show here.

Good for T-Mobile. Excellent.

 

[darnovo]

why is everyone saying this is good / aggressive. I have an iPhone 5s from ATT and I'm not handing it over to TMobile for 350$. This would be an amazing deal if they just flat out paid your ETF fees for taking the leap and switching. However, they are paying you 350$ for your iPhone that you could sell on eBay for 500$

Give me 350$ no questions asked to switch to you TMobile, and I will

 

[Orlandoech]

Wow... I just may cancel my VZ now... lol, even if Tmobile is inferior at the moment.

 

[BornAgainApple]

Very tempted to take Mr. Legere up on his offer.

 

[Orlandoech]

why is everyone saying this is good / aggressive. I have an iPhone 5s from ATT and I'm not handing it over to TMobile for 350$. This would be an amazing deal if they just flat out paid your ETF fees for taking the leap and switching. However, they are paying you 350$ for your iPhone that you could sell on eBay for 500$

Give me 350$ no questions asked to switch to you TMobile, and I will

Oh, I mis-read, I agree

 

[LiquidSpikes]

"Earlier this month, AT&T also announced plans to offer up to $450 in credits for customers switching from the carrier to T-Mobile."

I think this is wrong, its supposed to say from T-Mobile to AT&T? right?

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

Didn't tmobile just pick up a different lower frequency band off Verizon's network for a few billion? Sounds like their service will start to pick up as well.

Let me keep my devices and pay any etf and I'd switch back.

 

[ownamac]

Great to see a disruptor in the US carrier stranglehold.

 

[JAT]

T-Mobile calls pink "magenta"?

 

[jclo]

"Earlier this month, AT&T also announced plans to offer up to $450 in credits for customers switching from the carrier to T-Mobile."

I think this is wrong, its supposed to say from T-Mobile to AT&T? right?

Yep, thanks for catching that. Fixed.

 

[darnovo]

Oh, I mis-read, I agree

Actually I think I misread... I'm an idiot... they give you 300$ for your phone and then an additional 350$ to switch. Gotcha. So 650$ total. Way better than when I thought but still I'd rather get 350$ to tell ATT goodbye and sell the phone on eBay

 

[viperGTS]

why is everyone saying this is good / aggressive. I have an iPhone 5s from ATT and I'm not handing it over to TMobile for 350$. This would be an amazing deal if they just flat out paid your ETF fees for taking the leap and switching. However, they are paying you 350$ for your iPhone that you could sell on eBay for 500$

Give me 350$ no questions asked to switch to you TMobile, and I will

They call it aggressive because T-Mobile pays $350 plus the value of your phone, up to $300. Almost $650 for switching. I think it's pretty aggressive.

 

[alent1234]

why is everyone saying this is good / aggressive. I have an iPhone 5s from ATT and I'm not handing it over to TMobile for 350$. This would be an amazing deal if they just flat out paid your ETF fees for taking the leap and switching. However, they are paying you 350$ for your iPhone that you could sell on eBay for 500$

Give me 350$ no questions asked to switch to you TMobile, and I will

you still have to pay the AT&T ETF first to get it unlocked

this is not the best deal, but its pretty easy and not time consuming

 

[ltrebing]

Uhm …

The article from last Friday says this:

AT&T today announced that it is offering up to $450 in credits for customers switching to the carrier from T-Mobile.

This here article says this:

AT&T also announced plans to offer up to $450 in credits for customers switching from the carrier to T-Mobile.

The latter sounds far more funny but also rather unrealistic to me.

 

[osofast240sx]

Smack down !!!! Go T-Mobile !!

 

[Orlandoech]

Actually I think I misread... I'm an idiot... they give you 300$ for your phone and then an additional 350$ to switch. Gotcha. So 650$ total. Way better than when I thought but still I'd rather get 350$ to tell ATT goodbye and sell the phone on eBay

I agree, except tell VZ goodbye.