T-Mobile LTE & Network Discussion V2

[mittenmitten]

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.

 

'smart' has nothing to do with it, they can't afford to keep offering unlimited promos.

[Ascertion]

So far, I believe Amp'd has been quite bad, considering it's supposed to be Uncarrier-related.  Bad as in, bad for the consumer.

 

First they introduced phone leasing.  Wait.  Didn't Legere mock Sprint for that?  I guess the industry doesn't care about owning their phone after two years.

Then they announced Canada/Mexico roaming, which isn't bad, but it came at a price increase, per line.  $10/month.  Definitely not a bad deal, however.

Finally, they remove a truly unlimited option in favor of a $10GB/line plan, which is a downgrade, for the same price.  Not really sure how this relates to Uncarrier, but their recent "promotions" have been quite lackluster.

[caspar347]

So far, I believe Amp'd has been quite bad, considering it's supposed to be Uncarrier-related.  Bad as in, bad for the consumer.

 

First they introduced phone leasing.  Wait.  Didn't Legere mock Sprint for that?  I guess the industry doesn't care about owning their phone after two years.

Then they announced Canada/Mexico roaming, which isn't bad, but it came at a price increase, per line.  $10/month.  Definitely not a bad deal, however.

Finally, they remove a truly unlimited option in favor of a $10GB/line plan, which is a downgrade, for the same price.  Not really sure how this relates to Uncarrier, but their recent "promotions" have been quite lackluster.

I've been mentally replacing every online instance of "Uncarrier Amped" with "Recarrier." The articles and such make a lot more sense that way.

[Arysyn]

I really don't like these multi-line plans, especially the shared plans. Although in this case with this much data involved, it might be better if these new promotional plans by T-Mobile be shared, as not everyone on these plans are going to use 10gb on their line, where others on their plan might. Especially tempting for heavier data users, is the $10 for 10gb add-on, which there lies an issue. T-Mobile might be using this promo to test eliminating unlimited, but seeing as many of their customers are use to unlimited as well as their sales staff are use to selling it, I can imagine many of the sales staff will use this to lure customers on too these add-ons, even though many customers might not need it. Just the lure of it is so tempting, which makes this deal seem so good, when it really isn't, in my opinion.

 

This is one of those plans which would be better as a shared option, though T-Mobile doesn't offer that here. Also, unless T-Mobile offered unlimited of these add-ons, it'll cause customers of these plans to experience speed reductions after their high-speed data usage runs out. Heavy usage customers who tether often with this will have to watch out for their data more carefully, if there isn't continuous add-on options, as their speed will be reduced otherwise. Although, I'll be a bit more in favor of this plan if the add-ons are not limited to one purchase per month, per line.

 

I'd have priced this differently. As many of you know, I have a thread on the forum of what prices I'd implement if I were to run a carrier, which I'll be updating that thread soon with a slight revision to the plan for increased ARPU, thanks to the person who mentioned it to me and got me thinking about that issue more carefully. I'm trying to focus so much on improving the rate of device leasing on the plan, as I really like the idea of device leasing. In essence, I think that is what T-Mobile is trying to do here by making additional lines less expensive, prompting people to take advantage of the new Jump plan for those additional lines.

 

Again, my pricing of this would be different. Basing this on the multi-line concept, in order to remain similar despite my own dislike for these type of plans, I'd price it like this; Two Lines for $90 Monthly (each Line at $45 Monthly) Both Lines at 5gb each Line - Not Shared (as this is T-Mobile) then $35 Monthly - 3rd Line, $25 Monthly - 4th Line, $15 Monthly - 5th Line. Still 5gb each Line. Then unlimited purchases of 5gb for $15 each for high-speed data, with the option of unlimited slower-speed data still included in the plan. 

[red_dog007]

I doubt unlimited will go away anytime soon on TMo, but just like Sprint has stated, the future of unlimited is currently unknown.

 

The $100 unlimited plan was a promotion.  Promotions ends.  Can't really argue the plan going away when from day one we know that it was limited.  You can still get unlimited for $80/mo through TMo or $60/mo through Metro.  

 

This might just end up having more users flock to Sprint who want unlimited, which will potentially hurt Sprint's network even more in the short term with the $100 pricing, $60 pricing and as low as $45 on a Framily. 

 

As a replacement plan at $100, I think this is a pretty solid offering, and one that is more tempting than the 4 for $100 for those who would like a little bit of data.  Plus it is a plan that directly goes up against VZW new plan of $80 for 10GB shared.  Four lines on VZW is $140 with 10GB shared, while TMo is $140 with 10GB EACH.  TMo is directly responding to VZW data plan here.

[JimBob]

T-Mobile US' new family plan promotion will likely put more pressure on its network capacity and speed up the timeframe for when it needs to make a deal with another company.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/analysts-t-mobiles-new-10-gb-family-plan-promotion-will-pressure-capacity-s/2015-07-15

[Arysyn]

I doubt unlimited will go away anytime soon on TMo, but just like Sprint has stated, the future of unlimited is currently unknown.

 

The $100 unlimited plan was a promotion. Promotions ends. Can't really argue the plan going away when from day one we know that it was limited. You can still get unlimited for $80/mo through TMo or $60/mo through Metro.

 

This might just end up having more users flock to Sprint who want unlimited, which will potentially hurt Sprint's network even more in the short term with the $100 pricing, $60 pricing and as low as $45 on a Framily.

 

As a replacement plan at $100, I think this is a pretty solid offering, and one that is more tempting than the 4 for $100 for those who would like a little bit of data. Plus it is a plan that directly goes up against VZW new plan of $80 for 10GB shared. Four lines on VZW is $140 with 10GB shared, while TMo is $140 with 10GB EACH. TMo is directly responding to VZW data plan here.

I'd really hope Verizon would respond to it at least somewhat, though we're all aware the high unlikeliness of that happening to anything at least close to it, which T-Mobile does have the advantage of in every way, except for the ability to purchase beyond 20gb of high-speed data for a line in a month's worth of service. If T-Mobile allowed that, then they'd definitely win it in all cases.

 

If Verizon responds at all, I can't see them lowering 10gb down past $70 monthly, which for two lines at $15 each monthly, is $100. Again, that is the lowest rate I can imagine it going down to, though I think Verizon's smartest move would be 15gb for $75 monthly, with two lines being $105 monthly, which is only $5 more than the new T-Mobile promo with only 5gb less than what T-Mobile is offering included, though Verizon could advertise their promo having the advantage of its 15gb being shared, an advantage for people who use less data on one line and more data on the other line, all on Verizon's highly rated network.

 

The next step for Verizon would be to lower the 20gb plan down to $120 monthly from the current $140 monthly. Then lower the data overage to at least $10 per gb. Eventually Verizon will have to do something like this, perhaps more, as both Sprint and T-Mobile are getting very competitive.

[caspar347]

T-Mobile US' new family plan promotion will likely put more pressure on its network capacity and speed up the timeframe for when it needs to make a deal with another company.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/analysts-t-mobiles-new-10-gb-family-plan-promotion-will-pressure-capacity-s/2015-07-15

Hmm. It seems that some analysts are finally starting to factor long-term reality into their opinions on T-Mobile. Too bad they won't do that for Sprint.

[EvanA]

T-Mobile updated their coverage maps today, and the map now operates like Sprint's map where it shows all native and roaming coverage as one color (magenta of course) until you zoom in a few levels

[Paynefanbro]

T-Mobile US' new family plan promotion will likely put more pressure on its network capacity and speed up the timeframe for when it needs to make a deal with another company.

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/analysts-t-mobiles-new-10-gb-family-plan-promotion-will-pressure-capacity-s/2015-07-15

In regards to keeping up with data demand, all of the suggestions are things that Sprint isbl currently doing/planning.

[Jaramie3]

I signed up for the promotion today. My family had the original unlimited data for $20 through T-Mobile. I changed it because our bill was $325 after taxes, EIPs, and insurance. With this plan our bill with be around $290. 3 of the 4 lines on our family plan never go over 2gb so this is a good deal for me and I'm perfectly fine with it. If I need more data, I can double it for $10 more.

[JimBob]

Dish's stock falls after reports that T-Mobile talks have stalled, $3.3B in AWS-3 bidding credits will be rejected

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/dishs-stock-falls-after-reports-t-mobile-talks-have-stalled-33b-aws-3-biddi/2015-07-16

[caspar347]

Dish's stock falls after reports that T-Mobile talks have stalled, $3.3B in AWS-3 bidding credits will be rejected

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/dishs-stock-falls-after-reports-t-mobile-talks-have-stalled-33b-aws-3-biddi/2015-07-16

Hmm. Both companies are worse off without each other as far as I can tell. T-Mobile really needs capacity and Dish really needs to deploy it's spectrum.

[JeffDTD]

Dish's stock falls after reports that T-Mobile talks have stalled, $3.3B in AWS-3 bidding credits will be rejected

 

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/dishs-stock-falls-after-reports-t-mobile-talks-have-stalled-33b-aws-3-biddi/2015-07-16

That shouldnt be a surprise for anyone who is tuned into Ergen's ways.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[mittenmitten]

I doubt unlimited will go away anytime soon on TMo, but just like Sprint has stated, the future of unlimited is currently unknown.

 

it's entirely possible that infrastructure will move in pace with or ahead of consumption. the trend shows more consumption of media, but if that media is compressed more and more, and things like wifi become more widely used, it's entirely possible for that trend to stall and unlimited to be feasible for several decades into the future. it depends on whether or not Claure was speaking in terms of the very distant future or near term. im guessing he was waxing philosophical and everyone is blowing this way out of proportion. T-Mobile will follow whatever Sprint does, or vise versa.

[Maverick]

FYI

 

This will definitely put a financial hamper of any, and that's stretching it, hopes the pink carrier had in the upcoming spectrum auction since it's current business model has proven to be anything but profitable. 

 

http://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-to-pay-17-5m-fine-for-911-service-outages/

[Maverick]

Oh and BTW this doesn't help. 

 

It is and always have been inevitable. By design tmobileus is being set up to be bought out and legere is behind the helm steering all the way. 

 

http://pocketnow.com/2015/07/15/deutsche-telekom-t-mobile-sell

 

 

Bonus: The author of the articles mentions Sprint in regards to carrier network first hand experience compared with tmobileus. 

[WiWavelength]

FYI

 

This will definitely put a financial hamper of any, and that's stretching it, hopes the pink carrier had in the upcoming spectrum auction since it's current business model has proven to be anything but profitable. 

 

http://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobile-to-pay-17-5m-fine-for-911-service-outages/

 

No, definitely not.  For the war chest required in the upcoming 600 MHz auction, a $17.5 million fine represents chump change.  That might not even be enough to win a 10 MHz block of spectrum in a podunk place like Tightwad, MO (yes, it actually exists).

 

If the 600 MHz auction actually happens to any degree, the total winning bids for the big four will run $10+ billion each.  T-Mobile would have to get hit with a $1+ billion fine to make any significant dent in its auction participation.

 

AJ

[Maverick]

A Broken Record, that is now synonymous with tmobilus and legere

 

 

This could very be the nail in the coffin for tmobileus. In the past it has asked for handouts from the FCC and it accommodate them but now the pleas and cries are not receptive by Chairmen Wheeler of the FCC. It looks now the pink carrier has burnt bridges. 

 

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/fredcampbell/2015/07/15/t-mobile-spectrum-song-is-a-broken-record-at-the-fcc/

[Maverick]

No, definitely not.  For the war chest required in the upcoming 600 MHz auction, a $17.5 million fine represents chump change.  That might not even be enough to win a 10 MHz block of spectrum in a podunk place like Tightwad, MO (yes, it actually exists).

 

If the 600 MHz auction actually happens to any degree, the total winning bids for the big four will run $10+ billion each.  T-Mobile would have to get hit with a $1+ billion fine to make any significant dent in its auction participation.

 

AJ

 

Granted it's a drop in the bucket but for a business that's being run like a non-profit organization it doesn't bold well. 

[WiWavelength]

Granted it's a drop in the bucket but for a business that's being run like a non-profit organization it doesn't bold well. 

 

The $17.5 million is still nothing.  T-Mobile spent that much last year on John Legere's distressed designer jeans wardrobe, Brylcreem supply, and reverse swear jar.

 

On that last count, yes, it is a "reverse" swear jar.  Every time that the CEO uses an expletive in public discourse, T-Mobile has to put $1 in the jar.  Then, at the end of the year, Legere gets to keep the money.  It amounted to over $6 million last year.  Just check the T-Mobile 10-K filing.

 

AJ

[Paynefanbro]

Bonus: The author of the articles mentions Sprint in regards to carrier network first hand experience compared with tmobileus. 

 

It's exactly like I said. From Boston to NYC you're on LTE for most of the trip. I've never tested T-Mobile but it seems it isn't better at all. I'm sure that now that I own a phone with awesome radio performance it'll be even better next time I go.

[EvanA]

T-Mobile is launching RCS with the Galaxy Grand Prime and later the S5/S6 via a software update

 

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/advanced-messaging.htm

[greenbastard]

T-Mobile is launching RCS with the Galaxy Grand Prime and later the S5/S6 via a software update

 

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/advanced-messaging.htm

Maybe it's just me, but

 

See when others are typing, when your message is delivered and even read

 

I don't like nor want that feature. Seems a little intrusive if you ask me. One of the reasons I HATED Apple's messaging service.

[Paynefanbro]

When I saw that I immediately said no thanks. I'm perfectly fine without that.