Hasta La Gadget!

If you recall, the day after AT&T unveiled its Next upgrade plan, which allows users to pay for a device monthly with various terms for upgrading, T-Mobile sent out some vocal statements challenging the program. This spiraled into a sort of back-and-forth bickering betwixt the carriers, each lauding their respective programs, and now T-Mobile has fired off another jab at its competitor, tossing Verizon’s recently unveiled Edge plan into the mix.

The jabs come in the form of two print ads, one of which goes out today, and another that is slated for release on Thursday. In the ads, T-Mobile features some snippets from various media sources that have likewise criticized AT&T’s Next plan, calling it “underhanded,” “sneaky,” and other sorts of passive jabs. In addition, the company’s CEO Mike Sievert also gave a lengthy criticism of both AT&T Next and Verizon’s Edge.

Said Sievert: “Had AT&T with “Next” and Verizon with “Edge” really taken our lead and unveiled offerings worthy of serious consumer consideration, we’d have to give them credit … On the surface, their programs look okay. For the first time, these old guard phone companies seemed to be acknowledging that a certain segment of customers hates being locked into the same phone for 730 days. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll see they don’t get it at all. Or they don’t want to.”

Under AT&T Next, subscribers have an option of taking on a device without down payment for a monthly fee, which ranges from $15 to $50. The payments must be made for the duration of 12 months, at which point the device can be turned in for an upgrade, or for 20 months if the user wants to keep the device. Using the GALAXY S 4 as an example, which has a monthly price tag of $32, the subscriber would end up paying $640 total if they chose to keep the device, or $384 for 12 months.

Under Verizon’s Edge, users can get a device and have the full retail price of the handset spread over 24 months. If the user wants to upgrade, they can do so at the 6 month point, being required to pay half the cost of the smartphone’s full retail price.

T-Mobile’s criticism of these plans is that they fail to factor a discount into the monthly service price that results from the carrier not having to subsidize the price of the handset by using a contract. With a contract, the cost of the phone is reduced and rolled into the monthly price for the duration of the contract. Without the subsidization – meaning when consumer’s pay full retail price for the phone – the natural assumption is that the monthly price for the plans should decrease to reflect this. And that is where the crux lies.

SOURCE: T-Mobile

T-Mobile calls out AT&T Next again, criticizes Verizon Edge is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Yesterday, AT&T revealed its Next plan, which allows for monthly device payments on a new smartphone or tablet annually, with monthly prices falling between $15 and $50. If the first thing that popped in your mind was “T-Mobile” when the plan was announced, you’re not the only one, and now the latter carrier has stepped forward with some biting things to say about AT&T Next.

Under AT&T’s new plan, new and current customers will be able to grab a new tablet or smartphone every year, doing so without a down payment or fees. Instead, the cost of the device will be spread over the course of 12 months or 20 months, depending on what the subscribers chooses. The program requires at least 12 months of device payments after which point the device can be traded in or kept.

If kept, the subscriber will have to make payments on it for another 8 months, bringing the total number of payments to 20. The monthly device charge will depend on the device that is selected, with the Samsung GALAXY S 4 costing users $32 per month. As such, the total cost of the device under the program would be $640 if the subscriber chose to keep it.

Such device payments are on top of the regular monthly plan payments, and work out to higher device rates than what you’d get by taking on a full 24-month contract and gaining the subsidization that comes with that. Today we spoke with a T-Mobile spokesperson who has responded to AT&T Next, saying that “while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, AT&T has gotten it all wrong. Their offering is a terrible deal for consumers.”

“AT&T has separated the cost of the phone and the rate plan, but they forgot to pass on the monthly service plan savings to the customer. Instead, customers are paying the same high monthly service bill, but with no device subsidy. That means customers in this program will essentially pay for their phone twice!”

To put it simply, when a customer receives a subsidization on the price of a device, that discounted rate is reflected in the price of the monthly plan fee. If that subsidization is not in place, then the cost of the monthly plan should be lower, which is the approach T-Mobile took. This isn’t the case with AT&T Next, however, with subscribers paying the same monthly prices they normally would, but also shelling out the full price for the phone.

T-Mobile lambastes AT&T Next with claim that it is “all wrong” is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The expansion of T-Mobile’s brand of 4G LTE has been suggested to be going quite a bit quicker than planned, the CEO of the company expressing this onstage at a special event in NYC. This event also played host to new devices fully prepped for the network’s new largeness, devices like the Nokia Lumia 925, the Sony Xperia Z, and a software-upgraded Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, but it’s the network itself that the company seemed most excited about.

Having just been born less than a year ago, the pink network’s 4G LTE footprint now reaches 116 metro areas. To put this in perspective, the company suggests that they’re aiming at covering their own HSPA+ network area within a year. They’ve also made clear that they’ll be hitting 200 markets, this covering 200 million people, by the end of 2013. That’s a deployment that’s right up there with the top guns.

The company’s own goal before now had been reaching 100 million people by the time the year was half over. At this point they’ve already beaten down that goal with 157 million people covered – right now, live. This set of areas covered by the company currently include the following: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Atlanta, and Miami. And of course quite a few more beyond that.

You’ll find T-Mobile’s network still kicking it with 4G HSPA+ covering 228 million people across the USA while the company is pushing for as full a network as possible – be it one 4G or the other, as soon as possible. Have a peek at the rest of our T-Mobile event coverage today starting with the company’s new JUMP initiative.

T-Mobile LTE now in 116 metro areas, 200 by year’s end is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

T-Mobile launched its 4G LTE for the first time a couple of months ago with a handful of devices on board that offer the carrier’s faster data speeds. However, during T-Mobile’s NYC event today, the carrier announced even more devices that will support T-Mobile’s LTE network, including the new Sony Xperia Z and Nokia’s Lumia 925.

T-Mobile announced that its 4G LTE network now covers 157 million people in the US, which exceeds their original goal of 100 million people by mid-2013. The carrier’s LTE is now available in 116 markets in the US, with service now live in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Atlanta, and Miami, just to name a few.

T-Mobile is still keeping their year-end goal at reaching 200 million people in at least 200 metropolitan areas, despite surpassing its mid-year goal. As for T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ network, it’s available to 228 million people in the US.

T-Mobile also announced new devices for their 4G LTE lineup, including additions such as the Sony Xperia Z and the Nokia Lumia 925. The Xperia Z will be available for $99.99 down, with 24 equal monthly payments of $20. The Xperia Z will available on July 17 with pre-orders starting the day before. The Lumia 925 will be available on July 17 as well for $49.99 down and 24 monthly payments of $20.

T-Mobile’s current Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 will also be getting an upgrade to 4G LTE via an over-the-air update. The tablet is available for $99.99 down with 24 monthly payments of $15. T-Mobile seems all-in on 4G LTE, so we should be seeing more devices from them in the future, on top of more locations offering 4G LTE.

T-Mobile 4G LTE expands with more devices, locations is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When you sit down and read the rules involved in the current web of oddities known as smartphone contracts, it’s easy to find surprisingly complex ins and outs. T-Mobile has suggested several times over the past several months that they will be aiming to take an axe to tradition, making way for their own, much more “consumer friendly” rules. Here with what they’re calling “Jump”, T-Mobile says they’ll be turning the upgrade process on its head, allowing consumers to upgrade from their current smartphone to a new phone with the same prices a new customer would pay.

Of course it makes sense – if you’ve got a T-Mobile phone with one of their current new-age plans, you’re not paying a subsidized price for a smartphone. You pay an up-front cost then a monthly cost to pay off the rest of the smartphone. While other carriers include this monthly cost in with the data and voice plans they’re attached to, T-Mobile shows the cost clearly, this cost disappearing once the phone is payed off.

When “Jump” is brought to the market, the obvious becomes true.

Switching from one phone to another with T-Mobile will cost the same as it very well should, sensibly, given the company’s current rule set.

Once you want a new phone, you pay T-Mobile for the phone, the same cost you’d pay if you were a new customer. If you were a new customer, you’d pay X amount then Y per month until the device is paid for in full. With AT&T and Verizon, to give two fine examples, there are two approaches:

Approach 1. A new customer gets the cost of the device as advertised, X amount attached to a 2-year contract with Y cost rolled in on the monthly data cost.

Approach 2. A customer that’s currently inside a 2-year contract, currently under contract as they are, must pay an additional cost to get out of that first contract and into another – the full “unsubsidized” price of the new smartphone, that is.

With T-Mobile there’s also a cost you may want to consider: the cost of the first phone. No matter what you do, once you’ve been locked in with the phone you’re purchasing, you’re still responsible for the full cost of the phone. I

f you’re switching over to a new phone and still intend on only paying T-Mobile for one line of service, the original phone must still be paid for in full. Switching to a new device still means you’re paying the full cost of the phone (though the final cost may be ever-so-slightly different from AT&T or Verizon’s “unsubsidized” price) – so there’s no good reason for T-Mobile to penalize you for wanting to jump in on another purchase, is there?

Also note – this upgrade system only works twice per year, so if you’re planning on upgrading every time you see a new device – think again!

T-Mobile “JUMP” unlimited upgrades and what it means for consumers is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.