What does T-Mobile have planned for the next phase of their ‘Uncarrier’ master plan? We’ll know when it’s announced, but T-Mobile has always been great about dropping a few hints ahead of time. Via Twitter, T-Mobile CEO John Legere started making a list — and we checked it twice.
The picture shows Legere crossing off his 2013 checklist, and making a new one for 2014. According to him, T-Mobile shook up the industry in 2013, and will transform it in 2014. From the end of subsidized plans to worldwide data connectivity with no additional charges, T-Mobile really put their best foot forward. Their impact was so widespread that following Jump, all other carriers devised similar plans.
For 2014, T-Mobile is going after a wholly different demographic. The first two list items — relieving customer pain points and more 4G LTE — are pretty much throwaway topics, since that’s pretty much how T-Mobile rolls anyway. If you’ve got a family, though, T-Mobile is coming on strong. One of Legere’s wishes is to “un-shackle the family from those other guys”, which falls in lines with rumors of T-Mobile offering to pay a portion of a families ETF with another carrier. We’ve heard rumblings of T-Mobile readying offers of up to $350 for those who switch over, and Legere’s list might have tipped their hat to that.
T-Mobile is also promising to make waves at CES 2014, which begins next week. We’ll be on the ground in Las Vegas, so we’ll be keen to let you know if any major T-Mobile events or announcements occur there. As for the last item on the list, Legere ponders giving AT&T a break. They’ve been publicly spatting about one thing or another lately, and if we have our druthers, we say sweep the leg, John.
“Unshackle the family from the other guys” looks like Early Termination Fee credits.
The first and foremost thing T-Mobile needs to do is get their Data network on par with Verizon. After all the things T-Mobile did, the needle didn’t move much towards their side. That shows ya, that customers WILL PAY MORE for better coverage and better service.
Fix the family plan to actually share things like a family if you want to “unshackle” people.
Oh, you’re only unshackling them from other carriers, so you can attach fetters of your own.