The carrier wars are officially on now that Verizon has joined Sprint and AT&T in battling back against T-Mobile’s onslaught of “uncarrier-like” moves, by reducing their wait time for their Edge program from a six month wait to only 30 days! Nobody paid too much attention to the lowly fourth carrier – after all, they had lost customers for a few quarters in a row, but slowly they are gaining new customers from the other carriers and the financial analysts are not happy. After T-Mobile CEO John Legere, publicly “spanked”AT&T, they fought back and offered to pay customers to switch from T-Mobile. Analyst feared it was only a matter of time before Verizon jumped into the mix – the problem with this is that these moves lower profits for everybody, and the financial analyst fear this as bad for investors, however, it may be a great thing for customers.
We did an article the other day that ranked Verizon as the most expensive carrier and T-Mobile as the cheapest – eventually something had to give, and apparently it is going to be Verizon. Many feared that the number one and number two carriers would stand their ground, and have even said that customers that flock to T-Mobile are only the very cost-conscience and generally have a lesser credit rating. But apparently, AT&T and Verizon customers are leaving for T-Mobile, and why not if your particular area is serviced by T-Mobile.
T-Mobile started their JUMP program to allow early upgrades, AT&T introduced their Next program and finally Verizon countered with their Edge program, although T-mobile still has the better, more customer friendly program. Verizon decided they would tweak with Edge to make it even more attractive, so they got rid of the six month wait and reduced it to only 30 days.
Verizon said it will require new customers to pass a credit check and, as usual, prepaid plans are not eligible. Verizon’s revamped Edge program allows you to pick a new phone and split the payments over 24 months and that amount is added to your monthly bill for your plan. After 30 days, with at least 50-percent of your phone’s price paid, then you are eligible for an upgrade with no upgrade fees. Trade in your existing device – in good working condition, of course – and select your new one, and the cycle starts all over again, with no interest charges.
Please let us know on our Google+ Page if Verizon’s new Edge program would be of interest to you – will it help keep you at Verizon, or are you on your way to T-Mobile’s lower cost programs, but perhaps, poorer coverage.
Via: C/Net
Source: Verizon