Just yesterday, we got word from TmoNews that T-Mobile had a big announcement for February 23rd. After they published that piece yesterday evening, T-Mobile got in touch with the publication to confirm the changes and help clarify some of the details. Here’s what the press release stated:
“T-Mobile sparked a revolution in the wireless industry in 2013, beginning with the elimination of service contracts and a call for ‘Contract Freedom.’ Our innovative JUMP! handset upgrade program is an important cornerstone of our Un-carrier movement, and soon (starting February 23) you will be able to upgrade as many times as you like:
- Whenever you’re ready to upgrade, trade in your device and T-Mobile will pay your remaining device payments up to 50% of the device cost. There is no more waiting period or limit to the number of times you can upgrade per year.
- And we didn’t stop there – we’ve also added tablets to the program! We’re excited about how these program enhancements give our customers even more freedom to upgrade when they want, instead of when they’re told.
The old-guard carriers all tried to follow our lead last year, but none can match the variety of freedoms we provide to our customers with JUMP!”
Basically, if you buy a G2 today, and decide to buy the G Pro 2 when it launches in April, you’d be able to JUMP! to it, but you’d have to pay 50% of your device off first. So instead of waiting 6 months for your first JUMP! you can JUMP! anytime. Which is pretty cool, but this is also the downside. As you’re basically paying around $300, depending on the device, to “rent” the phone for 3-4 months or however long you decide to use it before jumping to a new phone.
T-Mobile is also adding tablets to the JUMP! program. So if you buy the Nexus 7 2013 now, and want to purchase the Nexus 7 2014 this summer, you can do so by trading in your old Nexus 7. It’s pretty cool, but I’m not sure a lot of people will be all that into tablets with JUMP.