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T-Mobile Introduces New 'Value' Plans
Aimed at Users Who Bring Their Own Phones

T-Mobile today announced new "value" rate plans for users that offer users lower rates if they bring their own phones along with them, or want to pay full price for a device. The plans range from $39 a month for 500 minutes and unlimited texting to $75 a month for unlimited talk, text and Web.

Mix and matching your options can also offer data caps of 2GB, 5GB, 10GB -- after which your connection is throttled back instead of incurring overages. Value plan customers can still pay for a device with installments of between $5 and $15 a month.

The plans may be particularly beneficial for someone who doesn't mind keeping a phone for a significant amount of time in exchange for a lower monthly bill. Or, as an example of how getting a new phone with these plans, T-Mobile notes an HTC myTouch 4G Slide customer would pay $250 up front, $15 a month for 20 months to pay off the device, with your monthly rate overall being less.

Granted, everyone should legitimately wonder if these kinds of positive developments (throttling instead of pricey overages, giving plan discounts for users who buy phones at full price) will be kept around once AT&T acquires T-Mobile early next year.
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BigStew
Premium Member
join:2000-12-21
Atlanta, GA

BigStew

Premium Member

What happens after the acquisition?

As a current T-Mobile customer, when seeing new plans and offerings, my first question is what will they change to after the proposed take over of T-Mo USA? Sure, they are proceeding with business as usual because the deal may not go through. But (unfortunately) the deal will probably be approved and I'm just sick about that.

So, would it be smart for me to extended my contract or add new services when I know they will be part of AT&T - a company that I want no parts of (for cellular service). I've been there - done that.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

As a Sprint customer, my hope is AT&T can't buy T-Mobile. If it does, Verizon may gobble Sprint, and we will end up with 2 giant companies running 90%+ of all cell service in one way or the other.

BigStew
Premium Member
join:2000-12-21
Atlanta, GA

BigStew

Premium Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

Good point. That would royally suck! I know this comment thread should be about the new pricing T-Mo will be offering, but that proposed take over will be the bear in the room during any conversation about T-Mo.

It would be a real shame if regulators let this happen. I can actually remember AT&T being broken up by regulation in the 80's. Now the monster is re-growing all of it's arms and legs, and now trying to buy a third leg so they can bend us all over.

Sorry for my rant.

But the pricing plans seem interesting to me since I sometimes do buy my phone outright without contract discounts - but wonder if I should consider a new plan or move over to Sprint. And I'm thinking I'll eventually move to Sprint after seeing how this whole thing plays out.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to pandora

Member

to pandora
Still have options. MVNOs/resellers and small regional companies.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

pandora

Premium Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

said by hottboiinnc4:

Still have options. MVNOs/resellers and small regional companies.

Yup, but the consolidation that seems underway is going to hurt us all with respect to prices. If resellers have to negotiate with one of two companies, getting decent rates will be tough.

I suspect T-Mobile is running on the belief AT&T will buy them. The last nail in the competitive coffin will be if / when Verizon buys Sprint.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

VZ will never buy Sprint- Sprint will be gobbled up buy one of their roaming partners/regional providers.

And actually TMO could careless. DT gets paid either way. The deal doesn't go through DT gets paid. T backs out- DT gets paid. Its a win win for DT.

Prepaidonly
@comcast.net

Prepaidonly to hottboiinnc4

Anon

to hottboiinnc4
MVNO's and regionals are not that great of an option for anything
but the most basic cell users. Spotty coverage. Poor customer service.
Obsolete phones.... don't even get me going on their poor offerings of Anroid phones, thanks to the big guys making exclusives.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

not true. Regional providers roam on Sprint and VZW. That thing about spotty service is BS. And Android Phones? LOL. I can tell you 2/3 providers that all have HTCs that VZW and Sprint both have.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue to hottboiinnc4

Premium Member

to hottboiinnc4
And MVNOs are under the BIG company (AT&T or Verizon) if all mergers go through.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

as they always have been from day one. Nothing new. Keep moving.

ZeddicusToo
@verizon.net

ZeddicusToo to pandora

Anon

to pandora
I dunno... even if/when it happens, I think the huge influx of former T-Mobile customers (like me) should swell the Sprint customer base quite a bit. There are just those of us who will never, ever go with at&t or Verizon [wireless].
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

go to Sprint and get treated like a step child and have horrible service in your home. Or even better yet- be stuck on their Spending Account system for EVER and be charged an extra $5 for it too.
hottboiinnc4

hottboiinnc4 to BigStew

Member

to BigStew
Have you heard that when a merger happens and the company buys EVERYTHING customers and network - they ALSO buy the contracts. So they'd honor your contract until you either changed/upgraded your services or decided to leave.

fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium Member
join:2005-07-01
Palm Springs, CA

fuziwuzi

Premium Member

Re: What happens after the acquisition?

AT&T is notorious for finding creative ways to dishonor any contract in their favor. Never, EVER trust AT&T to keep their word, the customer always gets screwed.

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
ARRIS SB6180

thedragonmas to BigStew

Premium Member

to BigStew

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· re=share

Liaa
@comcast.net

Liaa

Anon

contract question

I have tm too I think its stupid they still offering new service deals that at&t is going to win. I had renew my contract 2 days before the news of the buyout. I will not stay with at&t they are reason i switch to tm in the first place. Remember at&t etf are a lot more then tm is. I will keep the contract till it runs out unless at&t try to change anything on it or raise the etf.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: contract question

Do you not know how contracts work? ATT can NOT change your contract unless you do. If you change your contract then you'd be under ATT's new contract.

If you knew fully how things worked- along with others- you'd understand that.

TypeNameHere
@spcsdns.net

TypeNameHere

Anon

Re: contract question

It seems that reality isn't quite like reading a book.

I WAS with Tmo up untill a few days ago.
They changed my contract without my permission.
I had true unlimited internet (grandfathered in "total internet" package) and they changed it to 2gig. They would not give me what was clearly stated on my physical signed contract.

Goodbye ATTmobile

Thanx for negating any ETF by breaking the contract.

*note Sprint PCS IP

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru

MVM

Re: contract question

said by TypeNameHere :

They changed my contract without my permission.

Technically no they didn't. They sought permission to change the contract, but you did not grant it. You were then released. Your contract never changed.

TypeNameHere
@spcsdns.net

TypeNameHere

Anon

Re: contract question

said by cdru:

said by TypeNameHere :

They changed my contract without my permission.

Technically no they didn't. They sought permission to change the contract, but you did not grant it. You were then released. Your contract never changed.

Funny how you seem to think you know what happened to ME.

They never asked me for permission, they never asked me squat.
I got the bill and it said I was on some different plan that what I actually had been for 3 years running.
I called to ask what was up, and called, and called and.....well you get the idea (I hope you're not going to assume something into this).
I faxed them a copy of the physical contract I have, I took it into a corporate store (etc etc), they REFUSED to honor it any longer (I (strangely enough) do not assume to know about thier reasoning behind this, what is, is).

It is very obvious if you have to call customer service the shots are already being called by AT&T.
Tmo used to have the best customer service bar none, now they sound like clones reading from a script and have no clue as to the very basics of cell usage and protocols.

I strongly suggest if anyone is still on Tmo to just call customer service for some random problem.....it will solidify any remaining indecision you may have about staying with ATTmobile. (the pink death star ?)
ShellMMG
join:2009-04-16
Grass Lake, MI

ShellMMG to TypeNameHere

Member

to TypeNameHere
I'm sorry to hear they intentionally broke your contract.

I'm hanging onto my true unlimited, grandfathered Alltel aircard contract by the skin of my teeth. Their service and speeds were terrific but tanked after VZW's merger was complete. I'm scrambling, pushing, pleading, nagging and everything short of an outright bribe to get Frontier to hurry, hurry, HURRY with their DSL. My son said Turnkey was out at the DSLAM again so I know they're working on it.

I'll keep my grandfathered card as long as I can. Given it's our only internet access available and I have two teenagers, I'm sure they'd love to see us not extend. And I can't upgrade to 4G, so it's just a matter of time.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to TypeNameHere

Member

to TypeNameHere
once your contract is up; you are month to month anyway. You are NOT grandfathered in. Make any changes to your account- and you lose what you had on a month to month plan. Should have renewed your contract.

TypeNameHere
@spcsdns.net

TypeNameHere

Anon

Re: contract question

said by hottboiinnc4:

once your contract is up; you are month to month anyway. You are NOT grandfathered in. Make any changes to your account- and you lose what you had on a month to month plan. Should have renewed your contract.

Where exactly did I mention my contract had ended ?

It was in the middle of a 2 year contract that this happened.

No changes were made on my end, THEY made unauthorized changes to a contract and refused to change back even after agreeing with me that the contract was different from what they were trying to force me into.
This was not just 1 CSM, it was MANY (20-30?).
Escalating did no good, they brick walled on me.
Whether this is new company policy or what I cannot say, but I am lead to believe it is.
WernerSchutz
join:2009-08-04
Sugar Land, TX

WernerSchutz to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4
said by hottboiinnc4:

Do you not know how contracts work? ATT can NOT change your contract unless you do. If you change your contract then you'd be under ATT's new contract.

If you knew fully how things worked- along with others- you'd understand that.

I hope that once AT&T goobles T-Mo maybe we can get better shills.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: contract question

I hope that you would learn contract law.
gruntlord6
join:2010-06-10
Barrie, ON

gruntlord6 to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4
said by hottboiinnc4:

Do you not know how contracts work? ATT can NOT change your contract unless you do. If you change your contract then you'd be under ATT's new contract.

If you knew fully how things worked- along with others- you'd understand that.

You know they can make changes? If you don't agree to them it gets terminated within 30 days, without an ETF.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: contract question

they can NOT make changes to the actual contract you signed.

Prepaidonly
@comcast.net

Prepaidonly

Anon

Still way more than Tmobile prepaid

They are competing with their own prepaid division and still cost too much.
I get unlimited calls/texts/data for $70 inclusive (actually $63 after buying the callingmart
cards on holiday specials). Compare this with 75 + taxes = ~ 86.00. That's
$560.00 savings over a 2 years.

I change my phones every 2 years or less and still am better off than any postpaid "deals".
Prepaidonly

Prepaidonly

Anon

How long will 4g phones work

Another interesting question for those purchasing T-Mobile 4G phones, how much longer
will they work. I seem to recall that AT&T has budgeted for this, but I suspect
this means a free replacement phone with another 2 year contract on AT&T. No thanks, like many others, I left AT&T for a reason and will never do business with them again.

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

Value Plans?

Some value. I am on a now grandfathered EM+ 500 voice-only plan that I pay $29.99/month for. I have no need or desire for text service. Yet it appears that extra $10 on the new plan is just that, unlimited texting. Bundling something not wanted for pure profit.

And what the heck is the deal with two-year contracts for bringing your own device and receiving absolutely no subsidy whatsoever? That was a great feature of EM+.

No thanks ATT-Mobile.

gotfondue
@elessadvocates.com

gotfondue

Anon

Re: Value Plans?

Yeah I was wondering the same thing?!
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to n2jtx

Member

to n2jtx
ATT-Mobile? WTF! they're NOT even the same company yet.

And yes they have the right to charge you for SMS/Texting. Be glad it doesn't come out of your minutes as it used to a LONG time ago or be charged 50cents per minute. They could also go back to charging you to talk to a live agent. Remember the Sprint days where you paid $2.00 to talk to a person? Or maybe your 'net usage came out of your minutes?
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Oy vey

Here come all the AT&T&T haters. Hope you guys all love crappy cell service! Here, in reality, I'm looking forward to the largest network in America bringing unprecedented coverage and speed.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: Oy vey

VZW does NOT have the largest network in the country. If you zoom in on their 5+ year old map MOST of it is roaming. Roaming does NOT count. Also use too much on roaming and get your service shit canned. Read your contract.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Oy vey

WHAT? I'm talking about AT&T&T, which will be the biggest network when it is put together.