T-Mobile US’ latest attempts to “shake up” the wireless industry continued into early this week as the carrier unveiled the third initiative as part of its continuing “Un-carrier” marketing strategy. The moves come as the mobile space has seen a flurry of new marketing activity from larger players looking to gain an advantage in the market.
T-Mobile US’ most compelling announcement was a further push into the tablet market that allows customers to add a tablet device to a current postpaid voice plan for free. That device will have access to its own 1.2 gigabytes of LTE data per month through the end of the year, which will include the 200 megabytes of free data the carrier had previously announced for tablet devices and a bonus 1 GB of data per month that runs through 2014. That free data is part of an offer to cut $10 per month off of current tablet data buckets through the end of the year.
As for tablet devices themselves, T-Mobile US said it will price LTE-equipped devices at the same price as Wi-Fi-only models and extend its offer to pay early terminate fees for consumers that are under contract at rivals. The pricing change will see tablet costs drop by more than $100 in some cases. The ETF offer is for up to $350 per tablet line transferred to T-Mobile US, with those switching also able to trade in their old device on a new model compatible with T-Mobile US’ LTE network.
T-Mobile US had initially launched its tablet push last October, announcing the addition of tablet devices to its previously announced JUMP device payment model. Along with the ability to pay for a device over a 24-month period, T-Mobile US also said that customers that purchased a tablet or brought a tablet to the carrier would receive 200 MB of data over the carrier’s LTE network for free each month.
The most unusual new offering was the launch of its new Simple Starter rate plan that for $40 per month provides unlimited voice calling, messaging and 500 megabytes of LTE data. Unlike its already available Simple Choice plans that provide a bucket of high-speed data that is then throttled to slower speeds once the bucket of data is used, the Simple Starter plan cuts off all data usage at the 500 MB mark. Simple Starter customers can purchase additional LTE data priced at $5 for an additional 500 MB good for one day or 1 GB of data for $10 that is good for one week.
The plan also provides access to T-Mobile US’ recently announced international roaming and messaging services as well as its JUMP device financing model.
T-Mobile US noted that the offering is a deal compared with AT&T Mobility’s entry-level Mobile Share Value plan that runs $60 per month for unlimited voice calling, messaging and 300 MB of data. More importantly, the new T-Mobile US offering comes on the heels of AT&T’s recent acquisition of Leap Wireless, which included AT&T announcing plans to more aggressively target the no-contract space. T-Mobile US already offers a $40 per month, no-contract plan through its MetroPCS division that provides unlimited voice calling, messaging and 500 MB of LTE data that is throttled when the data limit is reached.
The real competitor for the new T-Mobile US plan could be the carrier’s own Simple Choice plans that begin at $50 per month for unlimited voice calling, messaging and 1 GB of data that is not cut off once the customer hits that data cap.
The overage topic was also core to T-Mobile US’ third announcement, with the carrier “challenging” its rivals to eliminate fees for consumers that use services beyond what is included in their rate plans. Overages have often been cited as a significant concern for consumers as such charges can inflate their expected monthly cell phone bills. Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility currently automatically tack on a new bucket of data for customers that go over their allotted data bucket at the regular monthly charge.
T-Mobile US noted that beginning with June billing cycles it would eliminate all overage charges for consumers. To add a more dramatic flair to the announcement, T-Mobile US also called on consumers to sign a petition at Change.org calling on its rivals to also end overage charges.
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