Earlier today, AT&T introduced their Next program which would allow their customers to upgrade their phones earlier than the 24 month upgrade cycle they currently have. A T-Mobile executive, Andrew Sherrard fired back at AT&T saying that it was a poor imitation of JUMP! and that it actually costs the consumers more than they think.
Sherrard spoke with CNET today saying “They’re charging you twice for the same phone, and calling that a good deal”. Basically, AT&T customers would be paying full price for their phone over monthly installments, AT&T Next customers also have to pay the same service plan rate they had been paying, which is the rate that was designed to work with subsidized phones. Earlier this year when T-Mobile cut out the subsidies, they reduced their pricing so if you don’t have monthly payments on your device, your plan is cheaper.
Sherrard went on to say “As people dig into this, they’ll find it’s a much better deal to go with JUMP.” More than likely referring to the fact that JUMP! includes insurance on your handset, and AT&T’s Next does not.
We’re also expecting Verizon to do something similar with their VZ Edge, which we saw leaked yesterday afternoon. We don’t know many details about the Verizon program, since it’s yet to be announced. But once we get all the details we’ll do a nice comparison of the three plans to see which one is better for you.
Sherrard also said that he was happy to see the industry reacting to T-mobile’s “boldest” moves he said it was a “response, not a strategy.” Which sounds about right. As much as Verizon and AT&T are trolling T-Mobile customers on social media, they are scared. They have to be, why else would they even both with programs like Next and VZ Edge?
Are you happy with how T-Mobile is shaking up the wireless industry in the US? Let us know in the comments below.