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

Wednesday January 8, 2014 1:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
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.

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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.

[ 385 comments ]


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treyjustice
66 months ago
bye bye AT&T
Rating: 24 Votes
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avanpelt
66 months ago
One word: aggressive.
Rating: 13 Votes
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darnovo
66 months ago
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
Rating: 13 Votes
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MattMJB0188
66 months ago
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.
Rating: 11 Votes
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viperGTS
66 months ago

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.
Rating: 11 Votes
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RubberShoes
66 months ago
I honestly can't believe some of the things I'm seeing on this forum. Whether you like or dislike T-Mobile, can you take your face out of your screen for just a second to realize this is only great news for everyone?

Even if T-Mobile doesn't offer great service in your area, it's their Uncarrier tactics that have brought down 2-year phone agreements for ATT and Verizon. Sprint is downright desperate for customers and seemingly matches if not undercuts T-Mobile's prices, and the entire industry is scrambling to not look like greedy Goliath *******s after T-Mobiles moves.

Please, take a moment to realize your position. It's when companies like T-Mobile and Google shake things up that the everybody else lose their Cartel-like status and have to offer better prices for the same or better service. I understand your "but Verizon has much better coverage" argument, but to bash T-Mobile because their offering the best of their services for a fraction of the cost or commitment should be very welcoming news to everyone. You're only trying to find synthetic reasons to support throwing your money away and you should instead be excited to see how the industry has to match or compete with these new incentives.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Vanilla35
66 months ago

They will give you $282 for a 16GB iPhone 5S...what the hell do you have to have to get the full $300? a 32GB iPhone 5S?


Well if you're on a contract you only paid $199 for it sooooo....
Rating: 8 Votes
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darnovo
66 months ago

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
Rating: 6 Votes
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Orlandoech
66 months ago
Wow... I just may cancel my VZ now... lol, even if Tmobile is inferior at the moment.
Rating: 5 Votes
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31 Flavas
66 months ago

I have three lines on my plan.

Line 1: iPhone 5S 16gb ETF: $325-$20 (2 months)
Line 2: iPhone 5 ETF: $325-$150 (15 months on contract)
Line 3: iPhone 5S 16gb ETF: $325-$20 (2 months)

Total ETF: $785

I can sell unlock all three and sell the 5S each for $550-600. 5 for $400-450.

550(2) + 400 = $1,500 - $785 ETF paid: $715 profit made

T-Mobile offer: no profit. They make profit off of us. They don't care about the customer. They're just as bad as AT&T/VZW.

You are forgetting an important part, though. You paid AT&T $200x3 = $600 to buy the phones. You sell them, as you state, at two for $550 and one at $400. Your proceeds then are $1,500. It cost you $600 cost to obtain them, though, ($1,500 - $600) and such leaves you with $900. But now you have to pay the ETF. So $900 - $785 = $115. Sorry.

If you trade in to T-Mobile, though, they will pay your $785 ETF, then pay you the $600 spent on the phones at AT&T, and then pay you $82 extra per 5S and $23 extra for the 5. Or, in other words, ($82 x 2) + $23 = $187.

$187 > $115. T-Mobile wins. I'm not seeing where the gigantic rip off is.

Even assuming top dollar for all three of your phones only gets you $150 extra. Making the difference between private sale and trade in at T-Mobile a negligible $78 dollars. Bottom line, there is no huge scam or rip off here.

The huge scam and rip off here is what AT&T charges per month for service. And this is why switching to T-Mobile might be of benefit.

3 phone lines on a T-mobile family plan is $90/mo (Unlimited calls and text and 500MB per phone of data) with no data overage -- unlimited low speed data. AT&T's closest equivalent is their Mobile Share Value Plan 2GB @ $175/mo. A monthly savings of $85/mo over AT&T.

Or $2040 over 24 months. Wait -- how much does 3 unlocked iPhone 5S 16GB cost? $650 x 3 = $1950. And they are your to then sell off or trade in a year or two down the road? Yup.

So really, the only question here is -- Is T-Mobile coverage / service good in your area. This is unequivocally a great deal if T-Mobile has good coverage in your area.
Rating: 5 Votes

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