Did you also hear that T-Mobile is no longer requiring 2 year contracts for service for a high-end smartphone? What is this simple choice they’re offering consumers? Did you hear about T-Mobile and Metro PCS merging? Don’t get confused, this does not mean that they are a prepaid service carrier. Let’s breakdown what T-Mobile recently announced and what that means for future service.
If you caught the event, you might have seen President and CEO of T-Mobile John Legere go on and on about how wireless carriers screw over their customers. He tried to explain the complexity of contracts and what they mean. He even went on to say unless you’re part of the industry, you just won’t get how it works. So instead he decided to officially announce T-Mobile’s new way of providing service and how that is going to work. They called it T-Mobile Unleashed. And what they were unleashing was their new “Simple Choice” service (includes monthly plans and device purchases).
What Does T-Mobile’s Simple Choice Mean?
What T-Mobile is doing with Simple Choice is killing their contract requirements. One of the major points of the event was the emphasis that even though they were no longer requiring contracts, the carrier did not go prepaid. You have a choice in which device you get, how you pay it off, what plan you choose, and how long you stay with T-Mobile. Is that simple enough in your book?
How Does T-Mobile Simple Choice Work?
Simple Choice Plan: Individual Line – Unlimited Talk + Text + Web
T-Mobile has always been very generous with their plans in my book. Yes, I know they didn’t really have any flagship devices and they don’t offer 4G LTE. But their pricing was a steal compared to other carriers. Now with Simple Choice Plans, you get unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited surf, and the (downloadable) data varies on your pricing point.
- $50 Simple Choice Plan: Besides the unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited surf, you get 500 MB of high speed data. Smartphone Mobile Hotspot (SMH) and Tethering are no extra charge. But if you pass the 500 MB limit, you’re brought down to 2G speed (edge).
- $60 Simple Choice Plan: You get everything the $50 plan offers plus 2 GB more of data for a total of 2.5 GB of data. This plan also includes After the 2.5 GB you’re going back down to 2G
- $70 Simple Choice Plan: With this plan you get unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited data. However you do not have the Smartphone Mobile Hotspot / tethering feature at no charge. You can tether for up to 500 MB. You can pay extra for more SMH coverage.
Simple Choice Plan: Family Line – Unlimited Talk + Text + Web
If you’d like to transfer over multiple lines to T-Mobile, it will be anywhere from $10 – $50 more per line.
- If you’re adding a line with 500 mb of data, it’s $10 more.
- If you’re adding a line with 2 GB of data, it’s $30 more.
- If you’re adding a line with unlimited data, it’s $50 more.
How are those numbers adding up for you?
Purchasing a Device To Use With Your Simple Choice Plan(s):
You have a few choices when it comes to the phone you use with T-Mobile. You can put a down payment for a phone (if your credit qualifies), and pay it off within 24 months in monthly installments from $10 and up. If your credit doesn’t qualify, you have to pay for the device in full upfront. You can also bring your device to be connected with T-Mobile service.
For Example: If you’d like to get the new BlackBerry Z10, you can put $99 down and pay the rest off in monthly installments of $18/month. So if you had the $60 simple choice plan, and $18 payment for your BlackBerry Z10; your monthly total would be $78. Once you finish paying off the phone in total, you will just be charged your monthly service charge of $60. When it comes to paying off your phone, you can pay it off as fast as you’d like.
Is T-Mobile’s Simple Choice UnCarrier Plans A Suitable Choice For You?
T-Mobile is focusing on those consumers who hate contracts but don’t want to sacrifice the choice of getting high-end smartphones. Simple Choice is also for those who want 4G LTE coverage. There is currently 4G LTE coverage in Baltimore, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Jose, and Washington DC. If you’d like to check coverage in your area, you can check HERE. With the BlackBerry Z10 available, the Samsung Galaxy S4 coming in Q2, the HTC One hopefully next month and the finally the Apple iPhone 5 available for the carrier, T-Mobile is giving the consumer a real option. You can stop the service whenever you please without termination fees. There is rarely smartphone exclusivity with a carrier anymore. You have to see how much you data you use and see if it’s worth going over.
Are you intrigued by the Simple Choice offered by T-Mobile? Do you think their 4G LTE will provide great speeds once it goes nationwide? What will stop you from going to T-Mobile? What features are appealing?
