Before we get started, remember this story is full of rumors, so they may or may not be true. Be sure to take this information with a heavy grain of salt. Later this month T-Mobile is making their move to be the “uncarrier” in the US wireless industry. Meaning they getting rid of contracts, subsidies and more. According to new information coming from TmoNewstoday, T-Mobile is looking to kick their uncarrier efforts off on March 24th. And an announcement is expected as early as March 4th. As with any change, this uncarrier move is bringing a bunch of new changes to the T-Mobile network:
For starters, kiss contracts goodbye as T-Mobile moves to a no-contract world. Existing customers will finish out their current contract or upgrade to a new device without a new contract, whichever comes first. New customers won’t have to suffer with any long-term commitments. Contract wise that is.
Early termination fees will be a thing of the past as well, which makes complete sense when announced with the removal of contracts.
Expect the introduction of a new equipment installment plan tier, likely in the $25 – 30 dollar range as T-Mobile moves to make all its smartphones $99 or less as down payments. A $30 tier makes sense if you consider the retail value of the device is $699 = $30 x 20 monthly payments.
So no contracts, no early termination fee’s, and a new equipment installment plan tier. Well all this we kind of expected to see with T-Mobile’s move to be an uncarrier. Now of course that’s not all the changes that T-Mobile is going through.
According to TmoNews, they are hearing that T-Mobile is planning to fine tune their branding in a post LTE, Metro PCS world. This could entail a new store redesign and a brand new marketing campaign, but that’s a bit down the road at this point. You’re also going to want to watch for the term “Dual 4G” which sounds like it’s going to play off of T-Mobile’s HSPA+ and LTE dual networks launching later this year. What will be interesting is how T-Mobile portrays their dual 4G networks. Especially since their LTE fallback is already competitive with LTE speeds from both Verizon and AT&T. The real question is how will T-Mobile market their LTE network that will be about as fast as their HSPA+ network, perhaps a bit faster as well.
In the meantime, you can say Adios to the “Stick Together” tagline along with Carly’s Ducati. Both will be retired with their move to the uncarrier. TmoNews has no idea what will be replacing those two yet. There’s also word that T-Mobile’s brand staples including the logo and color palette will not be changing. The rebrand is going to be focusin mainly on the “uncarrier” approach and not necessarily the company’s easily identifiable logos and colors.
The uncarrier is a pretty bold move and reinvention by the fourth largest US carrier. We’re just hoping that it pays off in the end for T-Mobile. What do you think of all these changes coming to T-Mobile in the next month or so? Hit up the comments below and let us know.