We have heard plenty from T-Mobile over the past few days. They recently held their UNcarrier press event which detailed everything from the 4G LTE devices they have (and will have) available, to the new plans and even a bit about their new advertising campaign. And well, while we have seen plenty of official details, it looks like there may also be some other stuff still in the works.
One of the items that appears to still be in the early stages is an upgrade program. This one looks like it will be good for those who prefer to always have the latest and greatest. The details have this pegged as being an “anytime upgrade” plan. This plan would allow T-Mobile customers to upgrade as often as two times per year. Users would be required to sign up for this specifically and it will mean paying a membership fee.
T-Mobile has yet to offer many specifics here, however it was said that members would be required to pay a “very small” membership fee. In addition to being able to upgrade two times per year, these users would also have insurance on their handsets. There is obviously still plenty of details needed before we can say how nice (or how bad) this setup would be, however it does have us more than a bit curious.
Anyway, this would be just another method of trying to shake up the wireless industry. As it stands, contracts and device pricing is often complained about. One of the nice parts about this new initiative from T-Mobile is how they dropped the contract part. Of course, you still have to pay for the device somehow and with T-Mobile that will come in the form of monthly payments. On that note, our sister-site SlashGear recently took an in-depth look at what this all means. You can read that post here, however we will offer the warning — they are using an iPhone 5 as the example.
[via CNET]
i buy a new phone every 4-5 months, so this would be amazing.
in the last two years i went from the:
htc sensation -> gs2 -> htc one s -> gs3 -> black note 2 -> white note 2 -> htc one
this idea really sounds hot if the membership fee is not high and the offer a good trade in program.
I think this is a great teaser.. Lets see how they price it. I’d love to upgrade every 6 months, this might actually move me away from Verizon
Gotta given BIG PROPS to Tmobile. They are definitely shaking up the tech game. They should expect MAJOR customers changing carriers.