Not sure how I just found out about this now, but apparently T-Mobile has a whole new strategy in terms of phones and service plans. Somehow this slipped under my radar, as apparently this news is several weeks old. I've been waiting for something like this for a long time. I've been waiting for someone to break the cycle of the overpriced, heavily subsidized, proprietary nonsense that has plauged the mobile phone market in the US for the last decade.
T-Mobile is now offering no-contract plans, with unlimited text and data for between $60-$80/mo. $60/mo gives you a 500 minute voice plan and the $80/mo plan gives you unlimited talk time. That same plan for an iPhone on AT&T costs $150/mo. That same plan for a Blackberry on Verizon costs $150/mo. With Verizon and AT&T you're also stuck with a 2-year contract.
Sprint has been offering a relatively cheap ($99) unlimited plans for a while now. But Sprint is an EVDO network that requires you to buy an EVDO phone... which is locked to the Sprint network... which requires a 2-year contract. Sure, it's cheaper, but you've only got a handful of phones to choose from and you're still locked to the network. T-Mobile, but contrast, is a GSM/UMTS carrier. That means you can use any phone that will accept a SIM card. That means you can take your phone to another network. That means your phone will work outside the US with ease.
What's more, they've come up with an interesting solution to the problem of subsidized phone sales in the US. People in the US don't like to pay for things. We love to subsidies. We love the cheapest possible price at point-of-sale, terms be dammed. Most carriers, including T-Mobile up until a few weeks ago, sold phones at a loss and made up the money (and then some) on the obscenely expensive monthly plans. Most carriers effectively subsidize the cost of the phone. You don't have a choice in the matter. That's why you have to pay a bucket of money every time you try upgrade your phone before the phone has been paid off. But even after it's been paid off... you keep paying for it. It's madness!
In addition to subsidzing phones, T-Mobile now offers financing. You can buy a $500 phone and pay it off as you see fit. You can pay it off in 4 months or 20 months; and as of current, interest free. This is the kind of shift that could change the way we buy mobile devices in the US.
What this all means is that consumers can now walk into a T-Mobile store, purchase a $500 smartphone (but only pay $20 out the door) with an unlimted data plan for $80/mo. You can get a new phone AND a plan for less than the price of the cheapest iPhone. That's game changing.
And what does this mean for me? This means I'm ditching AT&T and moving to T-Mobile. I'm going to wait for the new Samsung Behold II to be released before I decided what Android phone to go with, but my days of 2-year contracts and $100+/mo phone plans are over. I'll take the $500 a year I'll be saving and spend it on something good... like a new phone.
