Right on schedule with the whispers,
T-Mobile lifted the veil off of its new price plan tier structure, Even More and Even More Plus, and from the looks of it
all those leaks were pretty much spot-on. The traditional Even More plan is a two-year commitment and discounted phone, with unlimited individual prices starting at $59 per month and going up to $99 if you want unlimited messaging and text, too. Even More Plus scrapes the device discount but offers unlimited individual prices at $49 for voice / $79 for everything. It looks like the only major differentiator is the subsidized handset, but here's where the numbers don't add up: even with the steep $350 discount on myTouch 3G, factoring in that $20 premium would pay for the phone during the 18th month, leaving six months and $120 of extra payments left that have no obvious justification to us. Additionally the
FlexPay / equipment installment plan is now available, letting you break up the cost of your phone into interest-free monthly bills. It seems Even More's subsidized phones are offered over four installments (e.g. $37 per month for the $150 MyTouch 3G) while Even More Plus' is two installments (e.g. $25 per month for the same device at the $500 full price). Our initial takeaway from the price tiers is that T-Mobile is doing what it can to drive its consumers away from the traditional and over to the non-traditional (for US, at least) Even More Plus plan, but hey, we're not gonna argue over a beneficial contract-free plan, even if monthly phone payments keep us paying the company for at least 20 months. So T-Mo, any other
Project Dark surprises in the cards? Inquiring minds want to know.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
posted October 25th 2009 11:14AM
T-Mobile SUCKS!!!! Where is that $50-60 unlimited EVERYTHING plan. $99?! Give me a break! How is this a deal? Why would I give up my iphone for a crap T-Mobile UNSUBSIDED $700 phone with their crappy 3g coverage?! I might as well go with Sprint. T-Mobile phones are garbage too. The HTC Touch Pro 2 is the only phone I'd get and that's $350 subsidized, so probably about $100,000 unsubsidized. T-MOBILE YOU ARE A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!! I was going to get the new blackberry on T-Mobile but not anymore. T-Mobile is actually making ATT look good.
Yeah compared to the new sprint Anytime Mobile plans I don't think this is special at all. Top that with T-Mobile's crappy line of phones that resemble children's toys and this is a huge fail. Fanboys commence to downrank me.
Yeah, they actually just raised the rates. The base plan with a my touch went from $70 a month to $80. Tmobile=fail.
It won't be so crappy once the HTC Leo and N900 start making all other handsets cry!
LOL!! All those rumors about the N900 and the Leo coming to T-Mobile will prove to be as false as the rumors about the$50 unlimited plan. The same people that created all those fake banners with the unlimited $50, were the same ones that created the HD2 coming to T-Mobile ones.
I am somehow disappointed, but it is my own fault by getting my expectations high from rumors - rumors are just rumors.
This is not going to but T-Mobile in spot #3 - not at all. I am not a cry-baby, as so far T-Mo had been reliable, but lately I am getting lot of EDGE instead of 3G and spending hours with Customer Service. And my area is supposed to be solid green...
they must've read engadget's article and bitched out.........
Not really, If you're just looking for unlimited voice, T mobile is the way to go, for $59.99 you can't go wrong, Heck Verizon charges me $100 + $15 tax every month for the same service. Sprint got good plans but they still want $99 for real unlimited voice, sure they give you a bunch of other stuff too, but how about if you just want unlimited voice.
Wow, so much anger. Don't have an iStroke, man.
I don't get how this is low ranked - it's pretty steamed up, sure but makes a valid point.
Rating whores - go ahead and lowrank me. OORAH
I don't know, I think T-Mobile has Sprint edged out on price, but Sprint still has the huge advantage of being able to roam on Verizon's network.
Too bad I'm switching from my iPhone on AT&T to the Motorola Droid on Verizon. These are some nice prices though.
I'm actually leaving my iPhone too, but for the Blackberry Tour on Sprint. I was waiting to see if T-Mobile could actually offer a good deal, but Sprint's Everything Plus 500 mins/7pm nights at $59 is still king.
Wow. You guys are getting ripped off. T-Mobile UK has 800 minutes (~1600 US minutes), unlimited texts & 500 MB internet for £20/month ($33). Why would you pay three times as much for something marginally better.
"Wow. You guys are getting ripped off. T-Mobile UK has 800 minutes (~1600 US minutes), unlimited texts & 500 MB internet for £20/month ($33). Why would you pay three times as much for something marginally better."
So your suggestion for saving money would be to move to the UK? Let me spell this out to you clearly. The population density in the UK is 8 times that of the United States. It is not hard to understand why cell "AREA" coverage is more expensive on a per customer basis. I think why this comes up so much is because almost everything else in the UK costs more, so you want to stick it to the yanks. So, let me establish cause and effect. Things almost universally cost more in the UK because of 1.)it is an island 2.)it taxes at 38% of GDP vs 28% in the US and 3.)the population density in the UK is 8x greater than the US therefore land is more scarce. Telecommunications is a rare exception to this generalization because of reason #3.
"T-Mobile UK has 800 minutes (~1600 US minutes)"
I'm sure the conversion makes sense and that I'm just not getting it. How is this correct?
is big ben lagging behind again?
Yes, the population density is greater in the UK, and pirces are lower.
But if population density makes such a difference why are the prices even lower than in UK in Finland and Sveden where population density is even lower than in the US?
There's no better coverage of landarea in US if you were thinking that would make difference.
http://www.gsmworld.com/cgi-bin/ni_map.pl?cc=fi&net=te
Only some national parks in norther Finland dont have full coverage, more than 95% area has full gsm coverage.
The 800->1600 Us minutes conversion is about the way billing goes. You don't pay anything from incoming calls in europe as in US you pay for in and outgoing calls.
(The exception to the rule 'caller pays all': if the receiver is in a foreign country (not same country as his service provider) the caller pays the normal rate and the receiver pays for the extra international charges. This way the caller knows what the call is going to cost.)
what happened to the N900?
N900 is most probably going to be released in November 2nd week. Newegg website says Nov. 14th, but there is not exact date announced by Nokia.
Regarding T-mobile, it is still not known when Tmobile will start carrying officially. They may start anytime. I strongly believe, Tmobile US will carry N900 considering their UK counterpart having close relationship with Nokia in europe.
Nah, the N900 IS NOT coming to T-Mobile US. Don't believe those rumors. Look the rumor of the $50 unlimited was truly false.
T-Mobile UK has had the N5800 Express Music, the N96 and the N97 for a long time now and T-Mobile USA has never had any of those phones - not even the N95. Sure, the N900 may hit Europe through many carriers, but on the US, I think we are left to buying it unlocked and then bring it to whatever carrier supports the phone.
T-Mobile would be extremely wise to sell the N900 unlocked under the 0% interest installment plan. A $60 500-min "unlimited web/txt" plan + the N900 = Joy.
I hope this catches on with other carriers. I hate the mystery of the subsidized plan.
Same. Up 'til now, everyone had to pay the same amount regardless of how they got their phone, so buying an unsubsidized, unlocked phone was usually of no benefit to the consumer. It only benefited the carriers who would have a lock for 2 years at a time, and manufacturers who could essentially charge whatever they wanted for a phone and have the carrier hide the cost from the consumer. If manufacturers had to compete on price all this time, the iPhone would likely not have been as much of a game changer as it was since manufacturers would have been pressured to innovate all along. Heck, the iPhone would probably even cost about the same as the iPod touch.
Hmmm...that kinda makes me want to drop the hero and go grab a myTouch....Naw! What am I thinking? Maybe if they'd announced a certain Nokia Maemo 5 handset today too...
I don't understand. Why would you need to wait for TMO to announce the Nokia N900? It's coming out in November on TMOs spectrum, just buy it unlocked.
I mean, if you want to buy it from tmobile, then that's fine - but you're monthly bills are going to be higher (even more plan vs even more +) and you still will be paying for the n900 (monthly installment plan)
This is exactly why everyone is hating on this new plan structure. People in the U.S. are simply too stupid. They don't realize they are still paying for the phone when they paying these ridiculously high monthly payments (Verizon and At&t). It really boggles my mind, but at the same time it explains very nicely why so many people are in the dumps because of an economic slow down.
I really hope T-Mobile let's me switch my G1 from my current 1000 minutes plan to the new unlmited minutes+texts+web. I wonder if the +web will work with the G1, or will I still have to buy separate 3G service for it?
you still have to pay $25 a month for web on the g1 as it is a smartphone.
these prices are bullcrap and the premium of adding text to a voice plan are just insane
If you get the any minutes + text + web, then you don't need to pay extra for the smartphone data plan. If you get just minutes or minutes + text, you have to get the $25 smartphone data plan.
if you get the "even more" plan you still have to pay for the required smartphone web/text fee, which is now $30 with limited text and $40 with unlimited text.
with the "even more plus" it's all included in the price, but you have to pay the un-subsidized cost for the phone, so with an expensive phone like the g1 it's really a wash between the two plans over two years.
this is all based on family plans with the base number of minutes as that's what i'm interested in.
hardly game changing in my mind
@Carlos,
The family plan is an even worse deal if you want more than two smart phones. The add-on lines come in at $5 each -- not a bad deal. But if you want smartphones you have to pay $25 additional for each new line.
So for T-Mobile - four smart phones on plus plan =
$119 + 30 + 30 = $179 per month
4*399 = $1596 upfront
Minutes=1500 ---> You might get an extra 400 minutes with the two additional phones (200 each), but its not clear.
For Sprint - four smart phones
$169.97 per month
$1119.96 - 400 mail-in rebates = $719.96
Minutes=1500 plus nights/weekends at 7pm and Free calling to any mobile on any network.
exactly. my wife and i each have a g1, so these "groundbreaking" plans do not equate to any kind of savings for us if we were to change plans. it's too bad as i was hoping for the unlimited everything for around $60 a month.
Radio Shack picks up his lame duck but still ducks Verizon.
More good planning from Fort Worth.
Oh, I mean "The Shack".
(masturbatory gestures)
$99 for unlimited + unlimited messaging and text? I don't understand the difference between messaging and text. Sprint offers unlimited everything including internet for $99. That is a better deal. Even if the tmobile does include internet in the $99 plan their service is shit. They should've rolled out the 21Mb and then dropped the price bomb. I can't place faith in what could be. Need to offer a product first then I'll pay for it - not the other way around.
Can you read? Like at all? $99 includes Talk + Text (messaging) + Smartphone data
I can read. You clearly cannot. "...with unlimited individual prices starting at $59 per month and going up to $99 if you want unlimited messaging and text". Right from Ross Miller's post.
@babbaganush
The problem here is that Ross Miller can't read. It's $99 for Unlimited Everything with a subsidized phone. It's $79 for Unlimited Everything with a non-subsidized phone.
The reason that the contract prices are higher is because they're locked in for the length of the contract. Sure, Even More Plus may be cheaper now, but they can jack up that price any time they want.
It's about time!!! Finally an honest plan without mystery subsidies and other BS like AT&T pulls with Apple to justify a $700 selling price for a phone that can never be unlocked and allowing Apple to charge $999 for an unlocked 32GB iPhone 3GS.
Those days NEED to end.
What's the mystery? I was happy to pay $199 for a 3G when it first came out, and I unlocked it (thanks to the awesome dev team) in about half an hour, for free. What's the problem? I'm not saying the iPhone is the end all of phones by any means, and AT&T is nothing to write home about, but I've never had a problem with the phone or the service, and after taxes and fees every month I still pay less than $90. Not bad at all IMO
this is a joke tmobile is charging verizon prices when they have such a small network. it would make sense paying those prices for verizon because there network is big and fast but not for tmobile. these plans are to expensive i no longer see myself staying with tmobile if im going to pay over $80 a month i rather go to sprint or verizon at least there i'll actually get fast data speeds.
I don't disagree that VZW has a much larger and more reliable network... but I think for most people "larger" is irrelevant. Example: I live in Jersey City and work in Midtown Manhattan. My T-Mo coverage is perfect here... so, why do I care if T-Mo's coverage sucks in Florida, or Kansas, or anywhere else? It works where I am - that's all that matters.
So, all this talk about "Why would someone go with T-Mo when Verizon's network is so much bigger... " just doesn't make a lot of sense to most people. Sure, some people travel a lot, but I think a lot more people don't.
I'm currently paying
Family Plan
$69.99 My Faves 400
$19.99 Unlimited SMS
$24.99 Unlimited Web (one line)
Total: $114.97
My best option:
Even More Plus for Families +TXT +Web (both Lines would be covered)
109.99
I save 4.98 but get data on our second line.
If you need more than 2 lines it might be better for you to go with the Sprint ERPP (http://mcguireslaw.com/russ-mcguire/ look on the right side where it says sprint offer) because data is automatically included on extra lines for family plans without an additional data cost. It'll vary by where you live of course, but in a lot of places you will get Sprint 3G where you won't get Tmobile 3G at the moment. Plus with Sprint you get the lower price and a subsidized phone cost rather than paying full price for the phone.
to switch over to the even more plus plan you have to pay a one time fee of $35 per line. I was going to switch over but i would only be saving $5 a month so spending a one time fee of $70 did not really make it worth it.
For those of use shopping for smart phones (like the android phones, etc.), I still don't get it. $69 a month a sprint lets you have unlimited internet and doesn't charge extra for calling non-sprint phones.
Everywhere else (t-mobile, verizon, etc.) it seems to be $100 or more.
I agree.. Sprint still seems to have the best value. $70 for unlimited everything expect landlines.
Unlimited mobile 2 mobile(all carriers), web, text, email, navigation, and tv/radio.. 450 min to call landlines. But whos calling landlines that often anymore? Sprint FTW
Unfortunately it still comes with the same ole third world customer service reps who can't understand English very well.
After two months, 9 phone calls, 8 hours on the phone, $470 in overcharges, I broke free from my T-Mobile account and happily paid the early termination fee.
T-Mobile sucks!