T-Mobile US is making a play for landline customers with a new device that will enable voice-over-IP service using existing landline phones. The “un-carrier” is selling a $30 box called LineLink that connects phones to home Internet routers.
In addition to the upfront payment for the LineLink device, customers will pay $20 for a ‘SIM starter kit,” plus a $20 monthly service fee. The service fee falls to $10 for those who have an existing T-Mobile GSM line, meaning that the vast majority of T-Mobile customers will pay just $10 per month if they add LineLink.
Today’s announcement comes just two days after AT&T cut its price for landline service to $10 per month for customers who buy at least two other services from the carrier. AT&T, the nation’s largest landline phone service provider, also offers TV, Internet and of course wireless service, all of which can be combined with landline.
LineLink will only be available to people who buy another service from T-Mobile. Postpaid wireless customers, Simple Choice customers and Work for Business customers will all be eligible for LineLink.
T-Mobile is marketing the service as a way for customers to enjoy HD voice without giving up their existing hardware or their home phone numbers. The company has had plenty of experience porting phone numbers from other providers, and is now extending that offer to landline customers.
Like T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plans, LineLink offers unlimited free calling to Mexico and Canada. Right now AT&T is the only other U.S. carrier that offers unlimited calls to Mexico, and that offer is only for customers who buy at least 15 gigabytes of data per month.
This is the second time in the last six months that T-Mobile has launched a new consumer device that is not a smartphone or tablet. Late last fall, T-Mobile introduced an LTE femtocell called CellSpot.
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