NEW YORK — Back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, T-Mobile's pull-no-punches CEO John Legere promised sweeping changes — for T-Mobile itself, and by extension the wireless industry. On Tuesday, Legere took a major step toward delivering on those promises. T-Mobile eliminated annual service contracts, simplified its unlimited rate plans, and said it would have all the hottest handsets at low upfront costs — including the HTC One, BlackBerry Z10, Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy S4 (coming May 1), and, most notably as of April 12, Apple's iPhone 5.
T-Mobile also launched its 4G LTE network in seven major metropolitan areas, including Baltimore; Houston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Phoenix; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C., and turned on LTE in New York for its press event.
STORY: T-Mobile finally adds the iPhone
T-Mobile expects its LTE network to reach 100 million people by mid-year and 200 million nationwide by the end of 2013. But even if you don't have LTE yet, Legere insists that you'd still experience fast, if not quite the fastest, data speeds on other 4G variants.
Finally snaring the iPhone is a big deal for T-Mobile, of course. It fills what had been to date the biggest void in T-Mobile's device portfolio. And T-Mobile will be selling the 16GB iPhone 5 for $99.99 plus 24 monthly payments of $20. The 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5s will also be in the lineup, for $199.99 and $299.99, plus payments.
While T-Mobile's version of the iPhone 5 is nearly identical in appearance to its siblings on other networks, it does have a few differences, aside from the fact that you can get it without an annual contract. It takes advantage of technology known as HD Voice, which promises crystal clear call quality with reduced background noise. To exploit HD Voice you must be talking to another handset that also has HD Voice. The quality improvement was evident during a quick call I participated in on an iPhone 5 to iPhone 5 call at T-Mobile's press event.
Over the T-Mobile LTE network, I was also able to take part in an excellent quality Facetime video call with an Apple employee in Cupertino, Calif.
Data speeds on the iPhone 5 were impressive during a few quick but inconclusive speed tests (given that the network hasn't rolled out yet).
Ditching contract obligations is in my view the most refreshing development to come out of the T-Mobile announcements, though the fact is you'll still have to pay what you have to pay for the phone. What happens if two months in you decide you're not loving T-Mobile as much as Legere would want you to, or a year from now you decided to purchase, say, an iPhone 6? You're still on the hook for the hardware you bought.
"Whether it's $99 and 24 times 20, or $650 up front or whatever it is, the clarity of what the cost is of devices—whether we're paying them, or you're paying them or the manufacturer is paying for them—it's important that people understand that," Legere said in an interview. "And it's important that that be differentiated from a rate plan so that people understand what they're buying."
"What people have to realize is there's no cheap way to get this device."
If you do the math…us versus a comparable ATT plan, you pay $1,000 more to them." So how can T-Mobile sell it for less? "We're not Verizon or ATT so we have a different cost structure."
Legere didn't reveal specifics on how trade-ins or upgrades might be handled. But he said, "we want you to be able to make the decisions on us as a carrier any time you want. You don't like us, you should go. We don't treat you right in customer care or the network experience isn't right you should be able to go. You shouldn't be locked in. How we deal with the device should be the same as anything you buy on credit."
It is quite possible, Legere says, that phone makers may help come up with solutions that encourage upgrades. "Manufacturers may innovate with us. Suppose you're in that device and the phone provider really wants you to move to the next one. There's nothing to stop them from doing something with us on trade-in value and residual value and migration abilities. It becomes a fascinating dialog."
Anything that can be done to simplify rate plans is certainly welcome. At T-Mobile stores, customers will be asked two basic questions: How many lines do you need, and how much high-speed data would you like? You start with a single line at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and Web with 500MB of high-speed data. You can add a second phone line for $30 per month, and each additional line for $10 per month. You can also add 2 GB of high-speed data for $10 per month more per line, or unlimited 4G data for $20 more per month per line. There are no caps or overages fees.
Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2013/03/26/t-mobile-ceo-you-shouldnt-be-locked-in/
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