The details of T-Mobile's mysterious
Project Dark definitely seem to be congealing around retooled handset billing and a set of new plans, and it looks like
TmoNews might have the first word here on the all-important subject of plan pricing. Even More Plus, which would be contract-free and offer new handset FlexPay over four installments, is apparently tracking for a $79.99 all-you-can-eat package, $69.99 with 1,000 voice minutes, or $49.99 with unlimited voice and no data. Even More meanwhile, which basically amounts to new contract plan branding with traditional hardware subsidies, will come in at $99.99 for unlimited everything (mirroring Sprint's pricing) or $59.99 for unlimited voice alone. It seems strange that the contract pricing is higher than the prepaid, especially since Even More Plus apparently won't offer any hardware subsidies whatsoever, but we're sure we're going to find out how this all shakes out soon enough. Follow the break for another shot of the pricing grids.
posted Oct 21st 2009 3:07PM
"Most Affordable Unlimited Rate Plans"
meh, I don't think so T-Mobile!
Dude, check any current mobile carrier and at the end T-Mobile has most affordable pricing.
When I had basic only I paid $39 that is 700 minutes 5 faves free nights and weekends. With additional line now and data plan I pay $92 That is two phones 10 faves 1000 minutes and unlimited data.
Now compare that to ATT, Verizon or even US Cellular....
Um ...Yeah Good luck!
Or you could get the same thing with more than 10 Myfavs due to Sprint having free calls to any mobile number (Any Mobile, Any Time), night and weekends starting at 7 and a far better data network. Oh and of course unlimited texting and GPS are included.
@cocoviper
exactly what I meant, I got 5 lines on the unlimited everything data 1500min + 25% work discount and that brings it to about $40 a month each line!!!! you can't beat that!
navigation on each phone, sprint tv, unlimited txt, email, web, unl calls to any cellphone
Still not quite as cheap as WalMart. I think you seriously have to consider them in the mix now too, MVNO or not.
@Samurai Jack
Who wants a crappy flip phone, that was made 10 years ago?
Something I love about T-Mobile is how they ALWAYS love to compare pricing with Verizon and AT&T but NEVER with Sprint, because they know Sprint has even cheaper pricing than what they have to offer at the moment. You can see this when walking into a T-Mobile store and looking at the price comparison chart.
I have nothing against T-Mobile, but I honestly was expecting something more "OMG!" from them.
Cheap means nothing if the service provider doesn't provide product support.
Ask Sidekick users, they will tell you. Like they said, you get you paid for!
@Jocelyn.... people without a lot of money. The way things are going that might include *you* soon enough...
yeah this is lame. The best kept secret is Sprint's $60 EPRP plan (google it). You get the following:
unlimited calls to any mobile (any network)
unlimited texts
unlimited data
unlimited pix messaging
n&w start at 7pm
blackberry bis service (in case you use a bb)
450 anytime minutes
umm...what's not to love about that. Plus they have much better coverage and faster 3g data than t-mobile and at&t
I'm a T-Mo customer - overall, I'm happy enough. This new promotion was entirely overblown by all the speculative press. This is not THAT fantastic... in fact, looking at the family plan that has unlimited everything for $179.99 as an example... Most unlimited data plans (BB & Android) are $25 (without SMS), and unlimited family SMS is about $20. So, that's $70 for two data plans and unlimited SMS... that means the remaining $109.99 is what you're paying for the unlimited talk for two lines... that's not that impressive... I have a "customer loyalty offer" for being with T-Mo for a few years that offers that same thing for $89.99 (instead of $109.99.)
I'm really disappointed by the reality of this offer. However, I think the biggest news here is that FINALLY T-Mo is letting you out of the contract if you don't buy a subsidized phone from them. Not everyone knows this, but up until this, T-Mo made you sign a 2-year deal for every new line, whether you bought a phone from them or not!! I already had a new BB flip and they STILL made me sign a 2-year deal to set-up the new line. So, at least they're finally catching up on that front... no one should have to sign a contract if you don't subsidize their handset... that's just dumb.
Meh is right. One of the lines I'm paying for has 600 minutes w/Unlimited Nights & Weekends (39.99) + unlimited data + text ($34.99) on T-mobile is cheaper than the $80 project dark plan for 500 minutes + text + web
I pay less than this right now, and I'm on t-mobile. What gives?
What a TURN OFF.... Really all those rumors really had me worked up, expecting something really "game-changing". This is just he same pig with a different color of lipstick and waterproof mascara.
I work for T_mobile and its true begining this saturaday the plans will roll out...suck on that Sprint
I have Sprint and I love their service but seriously, why is everyone raining on T-Mobile's parade? They're lowering prices and offering new/more options. Whats more to ask for? At least they're trying. Gotta give them some credit. More than I can say for AT&T. All they do is leverage the iPhone and think they can charge as if they have the service and coverage of Verizon. They could at least take all the money they are getting from their iPhone users and better their coverage!
They give a cheaper monthly plan in exchange for dropping the subsidy. About damn time!
This is good news! Since T-Mo is a GSM carrier, you can pick up an unlocked handset, and actually benefit from lower pricing.
Yes, this pricing is damn good. I can buy the 29.99 monthly plan with 500 minutes
and add unlimited web for smartphone for $25, so i get 500 minutes(more than enough if i have unlimited web)+ unlimited web for $55 per month.
I've been with them for a while and nice to know I can actually get their plan with out anymore contract! Just wish their 3G is not on 1700MHz HSPA/UMTS only though...
It is hard to find T-MOible compatible phones unlocked. :( I called the Customer Support, they transferred me to Tech Support, and the N97, the Nokia 5800, none worked with T-Mobile bands for 3G.
F voice...just give me unlimited data cheap!
seriously...these prices are unimpressive. All the hype for this??? Totally lame.
Bobo - to be fair, T-mobile hasn't really hyped this. The internet took care of that for them.
Sprint has an unlimited data plan with no voice, it includes texting too, $30 a month. You can get the pre and other smartphones, but of course it's on contract.
http://sprintrelaystore.com/data_only_plan.htm
Seriously. They've pretty much lost every deaf and hard-of-hearing customer they had from the Sidekick era with this, unless there's a data-only option they haven't revealed.
Err...wtf? From ethcool's link: "The incoming call block may be removed by contacting our video customer service, with the exception of the Palm Pre and HTC Hero."
They have VIDEO CUSTOMER SERVICE now? *mind is blown*
Even More Plus is not pre-paid. It's post-paid. Just like what happens if you ride out a 2-year contract and enter a non-contract state. It still requires a credit check. It's just post paid. That's all. If you can't get past the credit check, you can do FlexPay with a lower credit limit. FlexPay is pre-paid with a little more flexibility.
Flex pay doesn't require a credit check.
That's what he said...
they will require a credit check on flexpay if:
1. you want to do the 2 year contract
or
2. you want to break the price of the phone into installments on the bill
option of course, though. you can refuse credit check and just use your own device and go no contract
The rumors were for first $50 and then $60 unlimited. I would have switched. $80? Whatever.Another episode from the failuredome.
That's what this is, 500 minutes + unlimited text + unlimited data for $60. Not bad. Bring it on.
Ditto. I got a lot of friends excited by LJing the $50 news.. Now I'm prob going to get my house TPed on Halloween. Thanks T Mobile. :P :)
@john doe: Me, too.
I knew that was too good to be true. They have to rip us off. :(
Those prices suck. What a bunch of garbage.
This pricing doesn't seem like much of a bargain with what's already offered. The already have the "Unlimited loyalty plan" for $50 a month unlimited voice. "Unlimited" data and text is another $35. That's what I pay, $85 a month for unlimited everything on my G1.
Ha, beat me to it.
But Loyalty plan was discontinued, so nobody can take advantage of that...
@iDavey: Really? That sucks. Glad I took advantage of it while it was still around.
@iDavey: You can still get the Loyalty plan if eligible, it's just not being advertised. I can still change to it online through my.tmobile, and probably if I asked over the phone.
Except that the Loyalty Plan has not been discontinued. It's still quite available upon request to a CSR. I should know since I did it 2 days ago.
Oh, well that's nice to know. I used to be eligible, but I left T-Mobile then just came back this year. So I'm all kinds of screwed. LOL.
But this will be nice for me to get...especially that Flexpay option.
G1?...I really feel sorry for you.
I'm guessing the Even More Plus is cheaper because they, in fact, do not get subsidiaries.
Since they have the monthy plan added onto their bill, that's why it could probably be lower.
Or since the monthly folks are tied into being with them...they just want to milk more money, who knows, lol.
This news makes me Even More indifferent.
LOL
Hmm darn, I was kinda hoping this would beat the pricing on the unlimited loyalty plan with a G1 data plan($75 for unlimited voice, unlimited data, and 400 text messages, or $85 for unlimited text messages as well) that I'm currently paying. Guess that's still exclusive pricing for long standing subscribers.
$60 for 500 min (who really uses voice anyway?) and unlimited text + data sounds like a good deal to me.
"...who really uses voice anyway?"
Anyone over 19 years of age.
Do you think the whole world is going to stop communicating with their voice over the phone in their personal and business relationships just because your relationships don't go beyond text messaging?
@DogStar: age 31, almost never use voice (current voice usage this month: 29 minutes. Slightly more than one minute per day). Talking on phones is for the olds.
For the record, they've been doing the handset flexpay thing for a while. I got a G1 from a T-Mobile store about 5 or 6 months ago and paid for it 25% at a time over the course of four monthly bills.
Sprint's Everything Data Family - with Any Mobile, Anytime @ 129.99 with 1500 minutes is a FAR better deal than this crap.
That's what I have with a 15% employer discount, plus I got pick 5(basically myFaves) for each line. My wife and I effectivly have unlimed voice, data and text for $110 a month.
You are being sarcastic right Matty?
Those family plans are exorbitant when it comes to only two people sharing the minutes. Give me a family plan that has 500 minutes shared, unlimited text and unlimited data for around $80 and I'll bite. I just can't see paying the extra $30/month or $360/year for minutes my family won't use. Why do these companies think people talk so much on their phones? Provide lower tiers of minutes and I'm sure people will flock to your company. Hell, make a plan where people start on the lowest tier and when those minutes are used up, they move into the next tier automatically. As long as they databases have been set up correctly (you guys did that right?) then it's a simple change that will net you many more subscribers.
Posted that before they had any family plan info up. I like that no-contract plan with 750 minutes, unlimited texts, and unlimited web for $109/month. Since my wife and I both have unlocked iPhones we're good to go on that one! I wouldn't pay $139/month for it, subsidized phone or not. That comes out to $720 over the 2 years, more than enough to make paying full price for a phone worth it.
Guess you didn't see the "Lines 1-2 included. Lines 3-5 $89.99/mo./line". So yes, that does mean to get all fives lines you'd have to pay... A lot more? ~$400.
So no, I don't think it's that great of a plan.
Mirroring Sprint's pricing. Nice. Isn't it called collusion when two businesses don't compete, and instead just coordinate to screw the consumer?
No, collusion is behind the scene price fixing, usually at higher prices.
this is competition and it is good, unless you are communist, in which case plan buys you.
That's not much competition, frankly. Competition is where you get added value for the same price, or where one company undercuts the market enough that other companies have to respond.
Haha so you're mad at Sprint and Tmobile for having the cheapest prices as they lose customers / money while Att and Verizon have by far the most expensive plans and continue to gain customers, especially despite Att's poor network?
I think you are focusing your consumer distaste in the wrong direction.
It's called collusion when the competitors actually collude. On the other hand, in an efficient market prices for equivalent products will also converge. You can't identify collusion just based on price.
Just to be sure, you guys don't actually think the US cellular market is efficient, right? It has easily the worst pricing plans of any first-world country. There may not be official collusion going on, but what is going on isn't much better.
There's also "automatic" or "natural" trusts, where there's so few players in a given market that they just naturally settle on the same price levels, no matter how inflated those price levels are over actual costs. I'd say having only 4 major players in a market as basic to human interaction as communications would become such a Natural Trust quite easily. They don't have to collude -- they just look at each other's web sites.
Wow, way to shake things up T-mobile. If these prices are correct, I will definitely be switching away from T-mobile once my contract is up.
agreed i was waiting to see how this would turn out but it seems to be a huge fail. i pay $75 a month for 1000 mins, unlimited data and 400 text and was looking forward to paying the same price for unlimited everything ($60 plan + $15 taxes) but it doesnt seem the case. this is ridiculous theres no competion in the telcom space all there doing is making the same plans as each other.
So how 'bout them N900s, t-mo?
Regardless of what is stated. My N900 is preordered.
I dont even use all of my 500 minutes in my family plan. we have free mobile to mobile, free night & weekend from 7PM and I have a life!
why sprint/t-mobile etc think an expensive 'UNLIMITED' plan will be better? especially during a recession when people want to pay less and use less?
If you don't burn through 500 minutes on a family plan then you either despite what you think, don't have a life, are locked up in a cage somewhere or people just don't like you. But to each his own, maybe you're just not social or have a small family.
I have a family plan. It USED to be 2000 minutes, nights and weekends unlimited and mobile to mobile free....and between myself and my wife we've come close to burning through it easily every month, which is why I had VoIP service.
This is from the many calls we got from family and friends on landlines who were either lacking minutes or call during the daytime while at home. We also make lots of calls to these people...I mean, between having a tight family and good friends....you do this, you call people and you get calls. Then there are the many times we've had to call companies or businesses in the daytime when minutes are used.
Unlimited loyalty was pretty much a Godsend a few months ago. Going over by just an hour can be so incredibly frustrating knowing that, that's a part of another month's bill right there. Now we never worry at all about minutes...VoIP is gone as we have no need for it anymore and I can user services like Youmail which uses call forwarding, aka whenever minutes or anytime minutes...whatever you call them.
So while you can survive on 500 minutes a month for calls to (and from?) landlines...there are millions I'm sure, who cannot.
So just to be clear, the speculation was that these prices would be FAR below the competition. In this case, they have gotten very competitive with pricing, but it isn't crazily below the competition. Wasn't the speculation $50/month for unlimited everything?
@Matty B you can ask a rep @ the store for there work email and 3# pin that plan become $109 even cheaper
Okay, so their prices have dropped, but they still only have 3G in what, 30 cities? Useless.
too bad tmobile sucks as well as those prices
I am not budging of my SERO plan.
But nice direction we are moving towards. After each carrier has plenty of these Touch fancy phones, We are gonna see more of this plan price competition. Verizon and ATT to follow.
in the mean time, If I could hold of on dropping my SERO for an upgrade, I just might be able to upgrade to WinMo 7 this time, next year. I guess I have to bear living with this horrible Motoq
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?SERO
216 going to 1000 soon
pre paid single
500 - $30
500 + sms $40
500 + sms+data $60
1000 - $40
1000 + sms - $50
1000 + sms+data - $70
unlimited - $50
unlimited + sms - $60
unlimited + sms+data - $80
pre paid shared (2 phones)
750 - $50
750 + sms - $70
750 +sms+data - 110
1500 - $60
1500 + sms - $80
1500 +sms+data - $120
unlimited - $80
unlimited + sms - 100
unlimited + sms+data - 140
-----------------
contracted single
500 - $40
500 + sms $50
500 + sms+data $80
1000 - $50
1000 + sms - $60
1000 + sms+data - $90
unlimited - $60
unlimited + sms - $70
unlimited + sms+data - $100
contracted shared (2 phones)
750 - $60
750 + sms - $80
750 +sms+data - 120
1500 - $80
1500 + sms - $100
1500 +sms+data - $160
unlimited - $100
unlimited + sms - $120
unlimited + sms+data - $180
Thanks, that explains it nicely. Not a good deal, though, IMO. I have a $50 plan for 1000 shared minutes. Then I have $25 data add ons for both phones ($50 total). Finally, $10 shared unlimited messaging from a few years ago.
$50 + $50 + $10 = $110 for 1000 minutes and unlimited text and data with the contract. (After taxes, my bill's around $120.) According to this, I could have the privilege of paying $10 more (before taxes) for 250 minutes less. Why would I do that?
I was really hoping for the $50 unlimited everything. This is just, you know, meh. Not a game-changer like they were saying.
If I get accepted into the University of Maryland in the fall, and this Even More Plus plan is as good as it sounds, then I am most definitely getting that plan with T-Mobile. However, right now I practically live in the boonies and T-Mobile doesn't like these sort of places, as I'm sure you know.
not so much for an unlimited rate! like it!
Project Dark? Is that what they call the "backup" of their Sidekick cloud?
At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Yehh! F* voice! give me unlimited data and text! Most peeps these days text and surf internet aniways...............
So Sprint has better reception in the NY/NJ than t-mobile? I can go for Sprint now correct?
And the effective date is when? Seriously
The leaked documents from a few days ago said the 25th.
I really hope these prices are once again rumors and the previous $60 unlimited holds true - otherwise all this buzz seems pointless.. we shall see
This....is what the whole deal was about ? Yet again, too short on the plan, too crappy on the handset choices ( Samsung Galaxy ?? you've got to be kidding ? ).....and you mean to tell me that they couldn't get a model of Moto DROID out there for us ?
Enough......enough already of giving less than what they REALLY need to, to get out of 4th place.
According to the screenshot, with a contract (which I just renewed when I bought the mytouch about a month ago) unlimited web for smartphones will be $30....I'm paying $24.99 right now....what a joke.
A big question to me is...what will happen to the MyFaves...
I don't think that pricing is right [both the blog post and hq17], considering I get unlimited everything on 2 lines right now for a total of 150 + Tax. Unless I suppose this is for brand new customers and not loyals, even then Sprint would still be a viable option to Tmobile.
Tmobile Loyalty = Unlimited Voice for ~50 individual. Not sure what Tmo charges for Net+SMS now. The last time I switched was when they told me my 19.99 grandfathered unlimited internet plan wasn't provisioned for use on my G1 and switched me to the G1 plan. Which was pretty upsetting at the time because a few weeks later I found out my friend was using his 19 dollar unlimited plan on the G1 just fine. Anyway, I digress...2 lines@~90 + ~10 dollar unlimited family messaging, I think I'm grandfathered and that this may be 20 dollars now + 2 unlimited data with no text = ~50. That's 90+10+50 for me or 90+20+50 for other Tmo Family customers
(with 1 extra line), would still beat the pants both the Even More and Even More Plus plan. If you want individual numbers, that would be ~50+~35 for everything for Loyals....which is still way less then the Even More plan.
Furthemore, I don't understand the pre-paid thing if you're paying installments anyway, that's basically like a contract, no? Albeit a contract on hardware instead of service? So alright, on Flexpay you pay 80 and agree to pay 20 a month for a year for your 240 dollar phone. That's 100 a month for 12 months for your service + phone, but with this you can switch to another carrier.
You decide in month 3 that you want to quit Tmo. You're not on contract, so that's fine....but you STILL have to pay for the 9 months you owe for the phone so 180 dollars. Do you have to pay it all at once or continue on installments, even though you're no longer using a Tmobile plan? This is even worse if you buy a 400 dollar phone, and lets face it...your cheapest smartphone is about that on the Tmobile website...which means you're paying 20 a month for 20 or so months - isn't that pretty much like a contract or worse? Or is it more like the idea that the phone is unlocked (is it?) and you can take it to another carrier and not have to buy a new phone but still make...payments on it to Tmobile?
I just don't get it. Hopefully the details on these plans are very different than what's being leaked/blogged about. Or there's more to it than what's being released...otherwise it doesn't seem like much of a game changer at all. Considering Boost, MetroPCS, Cricket, Virgin Mobile and Tracfone with their all-you-can-eat pre-paid 50 and 60 dollar stuff.
If these numbers are at all true, I really hope they have a sweeter deal for loyal customers, like the loyalty plan is.
I guess the phone will be unlocked because your buying a phone, same as in a shop. Leaving you to go wherever you like long as you keep paying the instalments.
Value wise it may not be the best but i like the idea of not being in contract and going where i like with my phone if i get bored with Tmob. Your paying for the phone one way or another, at least this way your not paying $1000 for a $400 phone like you do with ATT, Rogers ect.
F**k it I'm getting an iPhone.
If these prices are correct then my interest meter went from very interested to not interested at all. These prices suck compared to what was being talked about.
The way I see it, this is a positive. Saving any amount off a monthly bill is a plus. I guess most people are upset bcuz it's not "$50 Unlimited Everything". I for one wasn't to pleased about that idea bcuz it meant AT&T style problems. I let go of MyFavs, get an extra 200mins for doing that, no discount on equipment (which works for me bcuz I have a extra line where I pay full retail already for phones), and I save $15 a month. Plus the tax on that $15. I feel that's a fair trade off if you normally purchase Smart Phones every year like I do, where I end up paying damn near full retail for another year added to the year i have left. IF you always buy the cheapest handset, it's a good deal for Even More Plus. You're paying 150$ for the phone, but you're getting good savings.
Isn't Engadget supposed to be about gadgets? Why the promotion of a mobile subscription service???
um a number of my gadgets run on subscription data plans I think it kinda makes sense
Well, unless your new phone is going to cost you more $480 extra upfront, then you're better off with the Even More Plus plan: saving $20 per month over the 2 years you would have been under contract w/ the Even More plan.