T-Mobile wants AT&T’s customers – and it’s willing to spend as much as $650 per line to bring them over. The feisty wireless “Un-carrier” announced this week that it will cover the outstanding payments of AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon customers who are willing to make the switch to T-Mobile. It’s calling the move “Carrier Freedom.”
“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,” said T-Mobile CEO John
Legere in a statement. “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.”
The deal applies to smartphones and tablets. To make the switch, you’ll trade in your device and buy a new one under T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan. T-Mobile issues a prepaid card that has a balance equal to outstanding phone payments for up to $650 per line. Businesses that switch over more than 10 lines will get credits of up to $100 per line after crossing the 10-line mark.
T-Mobile also announced the “Un-contract,” which is the company’s promise not to raise rates. It’s extending the offer to customers who already have Simple Choice plans, promising that those customers can keep their plans at those rates for as long as they like. The rules change slightly for unlimited 4G LTE plans – in those cases, customers get a two-year commitment from the company that it won’t raise rates. “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,” stated Legere.
T-Mobile and its gregarious CEO are known for
taking aim at larger carriers, both with public comments and deals that seek to woo customers, but the Carrier Freedom plan sounds ambitious, even for T-Mobile. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact it has. If the plan succeeds, we’re sure Legere will be quick to let the world know.
Joshua Gulick
Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to
Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote
CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for
Smart Computing Magazine. A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for
HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family.
