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 $200 for transferring wireless service.
T-Mobile counts this as its fourth initiative to disrupt traditional mobile service. The first came in March when the company unveiled its "Un-Carrier" plans that uncoupled device costs from service costs, while the second and third initiatives included the company's Jump upgrade plan and its unlimited texting and 2G data in 100 countries.
T-Mobile and competitor AT&T have been participating ongoing feud in 2013, which began after T-Mobile CEO John Legere called the AT&T network "crap." Most recently, AT&T threw John Legere out of a party hosted by the company at CES 2014.
Top Rated Comments
Give me 350$ no questions asked to switch to you TMobile, and I will
Once they fix the swiss cheese coverage, they'll be a real threat to AT&T and Verizon.
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.