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Seriously AT&T had rollover data back when it was still Cingular and I never used it because I was happy when my data cap was not breached. Unlimited Data on AT&T is now limited so I am expecting T-Mobile to offer this next.

 

Subsequently we have no more contracts with T-Mobile and we are now better prepaid customers that can be moved without any problem off a plan into another plan if the un-carrier decides this to be the case.

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I would love to have a free 1GB tethering option, be us there are times when I just need it in a pinch.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk

 

Go with Freedompop and connect with friends (look for FB groups) and boom 1GB each month free

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Go with Freedompop and connect with friends (look for FB groups) and boom 1GB each month free

 

No thanks. I like where I'm at, and I'm not trying to move. I just add tethering when I need it, and if Sprint gave 1GB free, I'll take that.

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Here is a video of the David Pogue interview of John Legere:

 

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/exclusive-john-legere-launches-t-mobile-105308683314.html

 

Somebody give me a transcript.  I am not sitting through 30 minutes of Pink Batman.

 

AJ

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Is that a real dialogue exchange between David Pogue and John Legere?  Was that part of the "Uncarrier" event today?

 

Sheesh, John Legere is a self centered asshole.  But Generation Y eats it up -- probably because many of them are also self centered assholes.

 

It's not the exact dialogue, but it's fairly close (paraphrased).

 

I sat through the whole thing this morning. But I'm not sure I'm ready to sit through it again to transcribe it.

 

 ---

 

Right before/after he tells Pogue to "move to a city", Legere mentions he sent Pogue one of the ASUS cellspot routers, to "fix" the coverage. To which he replies, "my assistant/secretary uses it with her T-Mobile phone".

 

The whole event is a really awkward exchange. Legere being a weird mix of "reserved" and "brash", and Pogue being a weird mix of "interview/journalist" and laughing at Legere a bunch. Just really...awkward.

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Here is a great comment from this article:

 

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/watch-t-mobile-data-stash-lets-you-roll-over-105307553349.html

 

 

T-Mobile is the worst for coverage unless you live the hipster lifestyle in a studio apartment downtown.

 

And that, by and large, encapsulates the tech press.

 

T-Mobile is also the worst for coverage unless you live the poor lifestyle in the ghetto -- and pay for no home broadband.

 

Those seem to be the two ends of the spectrum of T-Mobile subs...

 

AJ

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Pogue : I still can't get service in my own (well built suburban neighborhood) home

Legere : Move to a city

 

Pogue : What do you say to people who are complaining about coverage?

Legere : There's a misconception that it's about cell sites, that we just need more towers. It's not, it's just low band spectrum.

 

---

 

Ugh. But you do need more towers, especially in those wealthy suburbs / exurbs.

 

All he had to say is "we're working quickly to add towers and coverage in the cities and suburbs we don't yet cover". It would take all of five seconds -- almost no effort. Instead, he always insults the people he'll eventually need to offer service to, to sustain his subscriber growth.

 

#sigh

Is there a transcript somewhere?
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Something Sprint can do to make theirs superior is put it on all tiered plans, even 1GB and less.

 

Using Nexus 5 on Tapatalk

 

THIS!  Plus a wee bit of hotspot for us budget-conscious folk.

 

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A couple of thoughts after listening all the way through:

 

1. LeGere has his competitive sights set firmly on Verizon and AT&T, because they have the market share to steal, and they have the business model that is most vulnerable to such theft.  Virtually the only times he mentioned Sprint, he credited them with good ideas (unlimited data, "giving" data).

 

2. LeGere has his customer sights set firmly on the young, urban demographic.  He pointed out that the average T-Mo customer is 28 years old.  He kept referring to "cow fields".  Many cellular customers are over 28 (some of us are w-a-a-y over), and the term, John, is "cow pasture".  Not "field", "pasture".  So he is obviously after a non-old (or even middle-aged), non-rural, hip audience.

 

3. "Data Stash"?  Takes me back to my younger years in Ann Arbor, where most people felt that their stash was more important that grades, sex, cars, or even rock n roll.  To use some quaint terminology from that ancient time and place, he was shuckin' and jivin'.  He wants to impress a rather limited group of potential customers, and obviously feels that there are enough of them to impel some significant growth.

 

Is his business model bad?  No, he has been (and will be) successful with it.  Are Verizon and AT&T going to quake in their massive boots?  No, they're too busy counting their money to be worried.  Should Sprint slavishly follow in his drug-addled footsteps?  Not really, because the market segment to which he is appealing isn't big enough.  Does my 40-GB share plan need a data stash?  Not yet, even though 3 of the 5 users are in his target demographic, because even as active urban data users, they don't come near the limit (and my wife and my antique self are exurban, and don't count).  And if I needed a real stash, I'd move to Colorado.

 

There you are: Sage words of wisdom from the aged.  :D

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3. "Data Stash"?  Takes me back to my younger years in Ann Arbor, where most people felt that their stash was more important that grades, sex, cars, or even rock n roll.  To use some quaint terminology from that ancient time and place, he was shuckin' and jivin'.  He wants to impress a rather limited group of potential customers, and obviously feels that there are enough of them to impel some significant growth.

 

I'm not sure the name has anything to do with "impressing potential customers".

 

I'm fairly sure the only reason for the awkward "stash" name, is because they can't call it "rollover" due to the trademarks AT&T holds. Same reason C-Spire calls it "rolling" data.

 

Everyone is calling it "rollover". Pogue gets paid to talk to Legere, and even he couldn't stop calling it rollover. If Legere could have found a legal way to call it "rollover" (without paying AT&T for it), I'm betting he would have.

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I'm not sure the name has anything to do with "impressing potential customers".

 

I'm fairly sure the only reason for the awkward "stash" name, is because they can't call it "rollover" due to the trademarks AT&T holds. Same reason C-Spire calls it "rolling" data.

 

Everyone is calling it "rollover". Pogue gets paid to talk to Legere, and even he couldn't stop calling it rollover. If Legere could have found a legal way to call it "rollover" (without paying AT&T for it), I'm betting he would have.

 

Yeah, but you gotta admit that "stash" fits LeGere's whole off-the-wall, super cool magenta persona.  He could have used "data cache" or "data bank" or some more conservative term and said the same thing, but that wouldn't show the anointed LeGions how hip Johnny-boy is.

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[...] LeGere's [...]

Okay, what is with this? This doesn't make any sense at all. His name is "Legere", and it's pronounced "leh-JER". If this is mockery, this is a pretty piss-poor way to mock someone. It doesn't really help with credibility of your statements, too. And frankly, it sounds like you hate the demographic that T-Mobile is targeting, which is exactly the same demographic that Sprint targets, too.

 

(I say the same thing about people who call Masa "sonny boy" and Marcelo as "marcy", which are equally stupid)

 

Frankly, Sprint wishes it could have managed to create the marketing machine that T-Mobile has. As it is, it tries and fails many times.

 

I'm not sure the name has anything to do with "impressing potential customers".

 

I'm fairly sure the only reason for the awkward "stash" name, is because they can't call it "rollover" due to the trademarks AT&T holds. Same reason C-Spire calls it "rolling" data.

 

Everyone is calling it "rollover". Pogue gets paid to talk to Legere, and even he couldn't stop calling it rollover. If Legere could have found a legal way to call it "rollover" (without paying AT&T for it), I'm betting he would have.

 

Yep. That's basically the reason.

 

Interestingly, C Spire's "rolling data" automatically expires after 30 days, and is limited to the size of the data bucket you have. That means, if you have a 4GB data plan, the maximum rolling amount is 4GB (for a total of 8GB). This differs from T-Mobile's "data stash" in that there's no limit on the amount of data that can be held, but each allocation "stashed" expires in 12 months if it hasn't been used up already. That means you can have a multi-month cascaded "stashing" effect.

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Okay, what is with this? This doesn't make any sense at all. His name is "Legere", and it's pronounced "leh-JER". If this is mockery, this is a pretty piss-poor way to mock someone. It doesn't really help with credibility of your statements, too. And frankly, it sounds like you hate the demographic that T-Mobile is targeting, which is exactly the same demographic that Sprint targets, too.

 

(I say the same thing about people who call Masa "sonny boy" and Marcelo as "marcy", which are equally stupid)

 

I don't think he's mocking him. You're getting really mad for no reason. I think he spelled it that way because that how he though it was pronounced. I actually didn't know how his name was pronounced for some time. 

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Okay, what is with this? This doesn't make any sense at all. His name is "Legere", and it's pronounced "leh-JER". If this is mockery, this is a pretty piss-poor way to mock someone. It doesn't really help with credibility of your statements, too. And frankly, it sounds like you hate the demographic that T-Mobile is targeting, which is exactly the same demographic that Sprint targets, too.

 

. . .

 

Frankly, Sprint wishes it could have managed to create the marketing machine that T-Mobile has. As it is, it tries and fails many times.

. . .

Okay, Neal, calm down. I did not intentionally mis-spell anyone's name -- I have a friend who spells his name LeGere, and I spelled the T-Mobile CEO's name the same way out of habit. There is little question that he (deliberately) cultivates an off-the-wall image. As to "hating" anyone's demographic, you are distorting an observation into a (non-existent) opinion. Some of my best friends (including 2 of my daughters and my son-in-law) are in that exact demographic. I am merely pointing out (entirely without bias) that Mr. Legere himself kept repeating the same mantra over and over.

 

Nor am I in any way denigrating T-Mobile's success. There is no question that Legere and his team have brought back T-Mobile from the dead, especially since the failed merger attempts and the essential abandonment by the German parent company. (And, yes, I expect that you or someone will attack that statement also.)

 

At no point in my post did I state, or even suggest, that Sprint has had more recent marketing success than T-Mobile. In fact, I didn't directly mention Sprint at all, except to point out that I think that Sprint would be foolish to closely follow this particular marketing path.

 

You and I have never exchanged views before, although I have watched with interest your discussions with senior members of this forum. You will never, in my 800 posts here, find that I have gone off on emotional tangents, diatribes, or rants. My post was intended to be an objective summary of some of Mr. Legere's statements, for those who may not have had the patience of time to watch the whole stream. I find your accusations and tone in this instance to be somewhat inappropriate, and suggest that you reread my posts objectively.

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A couple of thoughts after listening all the way through:

 

1. LeGere has his competitive sights set firmly on Verizon and AT&T, because they have the market share to steal, and they have the business model that is most vulnerable to such theft.  Virtually the only times he mentioned Sprint, he credited them with good ideas (unlimited data, "giving" data).

 

2. LeGere has his customer sights set firmly on the young, urban demographic.  He pointed out that the average T-Mo customer is 28 years old.  He kept referring to "cow fields".  Many cellular customers are over 28 (some of us are w-a-a-y over), and the term, John, is "cow pasture".  Not "field", "pasture".  So he is obviously after a non-old (or even middle-aged), non-rural, hip audience.

 

3. "Data Stash"?  Takes me back to my younger years in Ann Arbor, where most people felt that their stash was more important that grades, sex, cars, or even rock n roll.  To use some quaint terminology from that ancient time and place, he was shuckin' and jivin'.  He wants to impress a rather limited group of potential customers, and obviously feels that there are enough of them to impel some significant growth.

 

Is his business model bad?  No, he has been (and will be) successful with it.  Are Verizon and AT&T going to quake in their massive boots?  No, they're too busy counting their money to be worried.  Should Sprint slavishly follow in his drug-addled footsteps?  Not really, because the market segment to which he is appealing isn't big enough.  Does my 40-GB share plan need a data stash?  Not yet, even though 3 of the 5 users are in his target demographic, because even as active urban data users, they don't come near the limit (and my wife and my antique self are exurban, and don't count).  And if I needed a real stash, I'd move to Colorado.

 

There you are: Sage words of wisdom from the aged.  :D

 

I think you are pretty much on the ball there. My (obviously biased as I am a tmobile troll) take is that they picked their battle. Going back a couple of years they were under performing in their market and under performing overall. Rather than go toe to toe with the big two on everything they picked their 'hero' product which was data and positioned themselves to appeal to a subset of the market that would appreciate their strengths and not notice their weaknesses. 

 

IF they actually manage to get through the next few years maintaining their growth I would expect to see them start to expand physical footprint and when they are in a position to fight on rural coverage as well they will re position themselves again. It will take them years if not a decade to organically get anywhere near the big two so to be fair theres not much point pretending to be them right now. Verizon thinks they are the right choice for everyone, Tmo is saying they are the right choice for a select portion of the market. Sadly to do this they appear to have hired an ancient giant forehead and dressed it like Justin Bieber. To go after at&t and vzw in the long run they have to sell what they actually do have first, which is a fairly decent data proposition in certain localities. Short of a merger they arent going to offer much more in the immediate future. Sprint however in theory has the money to get to the top quickly, if sugar daddy chooses to spend it :)

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Okay, Neal, calm down.  I did not intentionally mis-spell anyone's name -- I have a friend who spells his name LeGere, and I spelled the T-Mobile CEO's name the same way out of habit.  There is little question that he (deliberately) cultivates an off-the-wall image.  As to "hating" anyone's demographic, you are distorting an observation into a (non-existent) opinion.  Some of my best friends (including 2 of my daughters and my son-in-law) are in that exact demographic.  I am merely pointing out (entirely without bias) that Mr. Legere himself kept repeating the same mantra over and over.

 

Nor am I in any way denigrating T-Mobile's success.  There is no question that Legere and his team have brought back T-Mobile from the dead, especially since the failed merger attempts and the essential abandonment by the German parent company. (And, yes, I expect that you or someone will attack that statement also.)

 

At no point in my post did I state, or even suggest, that Sprint has had more recent marketing success that T-Mobile.  In fact, I didn't directly mention Sprint at all, except to point out that I think that Sprint would be foolish to closely follow this particular marketing path.

 

You and I have never exchanged views before, although I have watched with interest your discussions with senior members of this forum.  You will never, in my 800 posts here, find that I have gone off on emotional tangents, diatribes, or rants.  My post was intended to be an objective summary of some of Mr. Legere's statements, for those who may not have had the patience of time to watch the whole stream.  I find your accusations and tone in this instance to be somewhat inappropriate, and suggest that you reread my posts objectively.

After going back and reading much of what you've written (yes, I actually did it!), you're right. I was off the wall there. I've been in a bad mood since I've had to verbally defend the strategies of both companies to people a few minutes earlier. And having to read messages from people (who keep messaging me despite the fact I don't want them to) who intentionally mock Masa, Claure, and Legere by doing exactly that all day has driven me crazy.

 

Yeah, Sprint's in a bad place, and they're trying to fix things. Will they be successful? Objectively speaking, the track record across multiple executive teams really isn't good. I don't know.

 

And I agree that Deutsche Telekom basically abandoned T-Mobile USA for many years. But now that Legere is at the helm, it doesn't matter anymore. DT's hands-off (but cash-on) approach helps T-Mobile US substantially by allowing the company to be extremely agile in the decision-making process.

 

<rant>

But I keep being told (even by other folks who basically live on this forum, many of whom ignore that Sprint targets this demographic too) that the demographic of people that T-Mobile and Sprint target are worthless, either explicitly or implicitly. It makes me especially mad because it makes it sound like my dollars are worthless. I am part of that demographic. I make money, and I want to get a good deal, especially since money for me is slightly tighter than older folks, and I'm more willing to try new things than they are.

 

like what T-Mobile is doing. To a lesser extent, I like what Sprint's doing too (they need more tweaks to their approach for me to be happy with them). 

 

Also, I don't want to sound arrogant or anything, but we are the future. Capturing the demographic I'm part of is critical for the long-term health of the company in terms maintaining lifetime subscribers. Aging subs will fall off and they simply won't matter over time. AT&T acquired Cricket for the purpose of targeting that market without diluting the "old people brand" of AT&T. Verizon ignores them entirely, which I think will be their undoing.

</rant>

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After going back and reading much of what you've written . . .

 

Thank you.  Sincerely, I appreciate that.  I don't think that you and I are in serious disagreement on this topic.  If T-Mobile and Sprint cannibalize each other, the only winners will be the Evil Big Two.

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Thank you.  Sincerely, I appreciate that.  I don't think that you and I are in serious disagreement on this topic.  If T-Mobile and Sprint cannibalize each other, the only winners will be the Evil Big Two.

And that's why they are targeting the demographic of people coming out on their own from their parents' AT&T/VZW plans. They have a good chance of getting them to become customers for life if they can satisfy them. They are the least-sticky of AT&T/VZW subs because they consume mobile services differently from their parents. AT&T/Verizon plans (and some Sprint ones) aren't really designed to allow the kind of usage of the mobile network that these folks want, and that's what makes T-Mobile (and to a lesser extent, Sprint) attractive.

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But I keep being told (even by other folks who basically live on this forum, many of whom ignore that Sprint targets this demographic too) that the demographic of people that T-Mobile and Sprint target are worthless, either explicitly or implicitly. It makes me especially mad because it makes it sound like my dollars are worthless. I am part of that demographic. I make money, and I want to get a good deal, especially since money for me is slightly tighter than older folks, and I'm more willing to try new things than they are.

 

S4GRU.com as a community is often really bad about this.

 

There's pages and pages of posts here calling T-Mobile and/or MetroPCS "ghetto" (1) (2) or pretending that their credit check is lower than Sprint / AT&T / Verizon (for comparably-equal phone subsidies, it actually isn't significantly different)  

 

This, despite the fact that Sprint does *literally* the same thing with their brands. Virgin Mobile targets the same "urban youth" as T-Mobile, Boost Mobile targets the exact same low-income urban demographic as MetroPCS. There's no significant difference in marketing, except perhaps that T-Mobile's is more noticeable.

 

Then you get to the ASL fines. Lots of carriers require a deposit, but Sprint (presumably) has so many problems with low-credit customers that they actually fine their postpaid customers simply for having low credit, even for customers who have already prepaid a deposit. "Just AutoPay to remove it" isn't a valid excuse for it.

 

Then you get to Sprint's credit reporting, which is often simply broken. I've had Sprint tell me just last week -- in the same phone call -- that I'm both "pre-approved for 10 phone lines and devices, no deposit" and that "we can't switch your current plan without a $200 deposit".

  

 

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"

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Here is a great comment from this article:

 

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/watch-t-mobile-data-stash-lets-you-roll-over-105307553349.html

 

 

And that, by and large, encapsulates the tech press.

 

T-Mobile is also the worst for coverage unless you live the poor lifestyle in the ghetto -- and pay for no home broadband.

 

Those seem to be the two ends of the spectrum of T-Mobile subs...

 

AJ

What is that supposed to mean ghetto?

 

I live in the inner city because I prefer to live in the inner city. I attempted to live in the burbs before but hated it.

Not everything in the inter city is ghetto, and even though I don't have t-mobile people I know that do don't live in the ghetto and live in some pretty expensive homes out in the burbs. So last I checked in my City Tmobile coverage is just as good as Sprints.

 

I thought this place was above making stereotypical jokes about the class or area people may live in, but I guess if you don't like a provider all bets are off. 

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Based on your concept, Installment billing is a gimmick too, and so are 2 year contracts. Just saying.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 6+ using Tapatalk

I just don't get you at all. You said earlier that what T-Mobile is doing is gimmick. So I am saying to some that's what they call it and to some it's options. From that, you are saying installment billing and 2 year contracts are gimmicks? They are options for some and gimmick to you.

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Pogue : I still can't get service in my own (well built suburban neighborhood) home

Legere : Move to a city

 

Pogue : What do you say to people who are complaining about coverage?

Legere : There's a misconception that it's about cell sites, that we just need more towers. It's not, it's just low band spectrum.

 

---

 

Ugh. But you do need more towers, especially in those wealthy suburbs / exurbs.

 

All he had to say is "we're working quickly to add towers and coverage in the cities and suburbs we don't yet cover". It would take all of five seconds -- almost no effort. Instead, he always insults the people he'll eventually need to offer service to, to sustain his subscriber growth.

 

#sigh

 

Yep, because that's the "cool" thing to say. What a clown.

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That's you. For some, this is groundbreaking since they can use the stash when they might need more data couple of the month/s throughout the year. And the fact that you can use it for tethering as well, is nice. same all of thoes GB's for a hugh download at the end of the year!! just saying....

 

That is circular logic at best. If you're paying for 3GB, and not using it, you're already overpaying. On top of that, they are giving you 10GB to begin with, on top of the 3GB, so you're banking GB which will all expire at the end of the year anyway.

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