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T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion V2


lilotimz

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there's no penalty for terminating EIP, you just sell the device to pay off the balance.

The same could be said for two year contracts, just sell the device to make up for the termination fee. You have to pay either way, both lock customers down the same.

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The same could be said for two year contracts, just sell the device to make up for the termination fee. You have to pay either way, both lock customers down the same.

 

on-contract, device payments for the phone are already built in to monthly charges. most of the people who switched were at least a few months into their contracts. downpayment of $100-$200 + $20 a month*however many months you've already been paying + $300+ ETF, it costs more to terminate a contract than it does to pay off an installment plan, they're intentionally unfair to discourage people from leaving. plus it involves cancelling service.

 

the point is: easier to pay off phone = easier to change carriers. Sprint has proven leasing puts downward pressure on churn, T-Mobile has had problems with churn specifically because people weren't/aren't obligated to stay with them.

 

I hate to say it but making service harder and more complicated to cancel keeps people from shifting around all the time. it's kind of foolish for T-Mobile to pay $300 for me to join them when all I have to do to leave is sell my phone on Swappa or Craigslist.

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on-contract, device payments for the phone are already built in to monthly charges. most of the people who switched were at least a few months into their contracts. downpayment of $100-$200 + $20 a month*however many months you've already been paying + $300+ ETF, it costs more to terminate a contract than it does to pay off an installment plan, they're intentionally unfair to discourage people from leaving. plus it involves cancelling service.

 

the point is: easier to pay off phone = easier to change carriers. Sprint has proven leasing puts downward pressure on churn, T-Mobile has had problems with churn specifically because people weren't/aren't obligated to stay with them. 

It really doesn't cost more. The ETF is basically the remainder of your subsidy that you have not paid by paying your bill over two years, that's why it goes down month by month. The carriers get their money regardless. EIP and contracts are the same, with a different label to make customers think they aren't in a contract.

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It really doesn't cost more. The ETF is basically the remainder of your subsidy that you have not paid by paying your bill over two years, that's why it goes down month by month. The carriers get their money regardless. EIP and contracts are the same, with a different label to make customers think they aren't in a contract.

 

it's not though, it's a FEE assessed for terminating your contract. lets say I buy an iphone 6 on Verizon. it's $200 up front, + $100 a month for service. Verizon charges $40 a month for the phone on a 2yr contract vs. $27 a month for EDGE, thats $13 a month in device installments. $13*24 = $312 in installments. $312 + $200 upfront = $512, which is about what Verizon is probably paying for the phones. the $350 ETF is a completely separate fee. on Verizon's end, the ETF will cover what they lose on the phone if the customer doesn't pay. on the customer's side, they're paying for the phone already each month, and are charged the ETF as a penalty for breach of contract (though if you fulfill your contract, you're never charged the fee). VERY effectively reducing churn. if you pay like you're supposed to, you pay off the device in full. if you don't, Verizon doesn't lose money.

 

on T-Mobile, you could sell your phone before even paying it off just by swapping sim cards. get the money, pay for the device, (or don't, and just screw someone else over, you have to wonder how many people are being screwed over on Craigslist since T-Mobile started EIP), you're done. on Sprint, because you can't just swap sims, you're locked into that lease until you pay a bunch of money up front, after cancelling service, then paying the remaining lease payments, plus the purchase option, also getting the phone unlocked, THEN selling the phone. they're both fair, but one is simpler than the other. more loops to jump through = lower churn.

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it's not though, it's a FEE assessed for terminating your contract. lets say I buy an iphone 6 on Verizon. it's $200 up front, + $100 a month for service. Verizon charges $40 a month for the phone on a 2yr contract vs. $27 a month for EDGE, thats $13 a month in device installments. $13*24 = $312 in installments. $312 + $200 upfront = $512, the cost of the phone that they slightly subsidize. the $350 ETF is a completely separate fee.

It's a fee for terminating your contract early because they have not recouped their subsidy yet by providing you with a discounted device. With a $600 device on Sprint with EIP it's $60 plus $25 a month. Now look at the subsidized $80 plan, with $200 up front. That extra $20 a month in the plan is going towards paying the $400 discount that Sprint gave you up front for the device. Notice how you still pay $600 for the phone over the two years? The ETF starts at $350 and goes down every month, because every month you pay back some of that money they discounted up front.

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It's a fee for terminating your contract early because they have not recouped their subsidy yet by providing you with a discounted device. With a $600 device on Sprint with EIP it's $60 plus $25 a month. Now look at the subsidized $80 plan, with $200 up front. That extra $20 a month in the plan is going towards paying the $400 discount that Sprint gave you up front for the device. Notice how you still pay $600 for the phone over the two years? The ETF starts at $350 and goes down every month, because every month you pay back some of that money they discounted up front.

 

that's Sprint, not AT&T and Verizon. Sprint is about as fair as it can get with devices. I know that on Verizon, they used to shave money off it each month, but it was only to a point where you would still owe ~$150 after 23 months if you terminate your contract.

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Well, if we are being entirely truthful, AT&T and VZW ultimately have paid for much of that originally free Cellular 850 MHz spectrum through mergers and acquisitions.  In some cases, they have paid several times over, as the licenses have changed hands multiple times.  But they paid shareholders, not the US Treasury.

 

AJ

 

That is a fact that so many people tend to gloss over. 

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think about it though. T-Mobile is paying their competitors half of their profits just to claim a customer as their own. their competitors could turn around and spend that money trying to win them back and come out neutral (like Sprint, essentially spending what they're being paid from shedding customers on gaining new more profitable customers using the exact same method as T-Mobile, effectively canceling it out). but most of the carriers aren't doing anything. why? because T-Mobile added 2 million customers. that's just 4/5 of 1% of their collective customer base.

 

If I were Verizon or AT&T or Sprint, I would just let T-Mobile pay me half their profits, conduct business as usual, and wait for the fire to burn itself out. Or, if I wanted my customers back really bad, wait until T-Mobile is broke, which is going to be from now until late 2016, then offer promotions.

buyout goes to customer not att vzw

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buyout goes to customer not att vzw

 

The buyout is to pay the ETF of your contract. The customer pays off the ETF and the user gets reimbursed. By transitive property, the money is going to Verizon/AT&T/Sprint.

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The buyout is to pay the ETF of you contract. They customer pays off the ETF and the user gets reimbursed. By transitive property, the money is going to Verizon/AT&T/Sprint.

the money goes to paying off the phone, not to the profit of the losing carrier.

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the money goes to paying off the phone, not to the profit of the losing carrier.

 

What? It ends up in the carrier's pockets regardless. An ETF is a fee for terminating the contract. Paying off your device is still paying the carrier your leaving because carriers don't pay $649.99 for a phone like we do. Because they buy in wholesale, the price per phone is lower than what we pay so carriers still profit from the paying off of a device. There's no way you can argue that T-Mobile's ETF buyout isn't ending up in other carrier's hands.

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4 Lines @ 10GB each  for $30 per line...    or $40 per line for 20GB? 

 

http://explore.t-mobile.com/simple-choice-family-plan-with-10gb-data

 

Reminds me of Cricket.  Could cause some similar competition.

 

That is a really good price, essentially 120.00 before taxes for 4 lines. Each with there own 10gb to use.
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That is a really good price, essentially 120.00 before taxes for 4 lines. Each with there own 10gb to use.

Yeah, that's a great price.  I wonder if Sprint will respond to it.

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Yeah, that's a great price.  I wonder if Sprint will respond to it.

 

I hope they do. Family Share pack of 20GB at $160 for 4 lines. I know not totally apples to apples, but I definitely think its enough to warrant some pricing changes by Sprint. T-Mobile is really smart offering this, starting to phase out unlimited promos.

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4 Lines @ 10GB each for $30 per line... or $40 per line for 20GB?

 

http://explore.t-mobile.com/simple-choice-family-plan-with-10gb-data

 

Reminds me of Cricket. Could cause some similar competition.

That's a pretty good deal. Especially if you have 4 unlocked devices to use on their network.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6

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4 Lines @ 10GB each  for $30 per line...    or $40 per line for 20GB? 

 

http://explore.t-mobile.com/simple-choice-family-plan-with-10gb-data

 

Reminds me of Cricket.  Could cause some similar competition. 

 

Meh, once you add the phone costs, my Sprint ED1500 plan with corporate discount is still a better deal.

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$140/month for 4 lines.

fourth line add for just 120.00 total, promotional deal.
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I hate to say it but, this is does sound like a good deal given this QA:

 

"Are all 10GBs eligible for Smartphone Mobile Hotspot (tethering)?

Yes, all 10GB are eligible for tethering. Customers can choose to use their phone with Smartphone Mobile hotspot (tethering) with all 10GB of high-speed data, or use part for tethering and part on their phone."

 

A person with 3 lines could buy a cheap Android phone with Hotspot capabilities and use it primarily as a hotspot with 10-20 GB of data to use each month while spending at most $160 on service for 20 GB per line.

 

But again its only a good deal with a fully owned device(s).  Otherwise your "free" line would cost you $20+ a month.

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Meh, once you add the phone costs, my Sprint ED1500 plan with corporate discount is still a better deal.

As are many other unlimited legacy plans. But this new offering is cheaper than any prepaid or postpaid data offering I am aware of, in the realm of limited data options.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

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As are many other unlimited legacy plans. But this new offering is cheaper than any prepaid or postpaid data offering I am aware of, in the realm of limited data options.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

It takes a legacy plan + corp discount to 'beat' this offering.

 

Sent from my SM-N910T

Edited by Houston_Texas
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Meh, once you add the phone costs, my Sprint ED1500 plan with corporate discount is still a better deal.

It's not really a fair comparison considering ED 1500 isn't available to new subscribers now, while this deal is.
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It's not really a fair comparison considering ED 1500 isn't available to new subscribers now, while this deal is.

 

Im not saying that, Im just saying I always look into these new anouncements for every company and have never found one that could woo me away from my plan.

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