T-Mobile shakes up industry with twice-yearly upgrades
Jul 10, 2013, 3:07 PM | Updated: 5:01 pm
Drop your phone in the toilet? Under most plans, you’d have to wait until the end of your contract or pay full price for a replacement. But Bellevue-based T-Mobile is firing another shot across the bow of competing mobile carriers, announcing a new program that lets users upgrade their smartphones up to twice a year.
“We are going to redefine a stupid, broken and arrogant industry,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said today in New York City at an event announcing JUMP, or Just Upgrade My Phone.
Under the plan, users can pay $10 a month and trade in their old T-Mobile smartphone after a six-month waiting period.
“This is for the ‘oh sh*t’ moments,” Legere told reporters in an obscenity peppered presentation that’s become a trademark of sorts.
“At some point, big wireless companies made a decision for you that you should have to wait two years to get a new phone for a fair price. That’s 730 days of waiting. 730 days of watching new phones come out that you can’t have. Or having to live with a cracked screen or an outdated camera,” said Legere “We say two years is just too long to wait.”
JUMP is part of T-Mobile’s smartphone insurance program. While there’s no additional fee to upgrade a phone in good condition, users will have to pay a deductible of between $20 and $170 if it’s broken or has water damage to upgrade. But Legere pointed out the cost is just $2 more than customers currently pay now solely for equipment protection.
The company also announced a major expansion of its 4G LTE network to reach 157 million people in 116 metro areas across the United States. And it unveiled a new program allowing families to get four phone lines with unlimited talk, text and Web and up to 500MB of high-speed data for only $100 per month – with no credit check or annual service contract required.
The move follows T-Mobile’s unconventional move in March to allow users to avoid getting locked into a two-year contract by paying a monthly fee for their smartphones until the device is fully paid off.
The company began offering Apple’s iPhone 5 in April for a $99 down payment and $20 a month for 24 months.
“Now, customers never have to worry about being stuck with the wrong phone. And, yes — it’s really as good as it sounds,” Legere said.
