T-Mobile Pays For Your Phone If You Make A Carrier Switch

By Edwin Kee
T-Mobile
T-Mobile Pays For Your Phone If You Make A Carrier Switch

Isn’t it nice to know that you are in demand, and are much loved and wanted? This is what T-Mobile would like Verizon customers to feel, so much so that the Uncarrier is willing to pay off the remaining iPhone contract with Verizon in order to have you jump aboard their network. From May 31 onward, Verizon customers who happen to own an eligible iPhone will be able to ditch Verizon and settle for T-Mobile. By doing so, T-Mobile will be obliged to cover all remaining installment payments on your iPhone, all the while keeping your handset. This is certainly good news for those who had looked at T-Mobile’s direction wistfully, hoping that a somewhat similar mobile plan is made available, but continue to remain tethered to a 2-year contract.

However, do take note that T-Mobile is not going to make this offer blindly to the masses, otherwise they would probably have a whole lot to answer to their shareholders. There will be certain phone models that will be eligible, and this will include the iPhone SE, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus from Apple. If you are rocking to the Android platform, take note that only Google’s Pixel devices (that would mean the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones) will qualify. Another “catch” would be having to agree to T-Mobile's Premium Device Protection Plus service, which will cost an additional $15 each month, which T-Mobile claims you are able to cancel that particular service at any point in time in which you do not want it. That is certainly an interesting proposition, and it would be nice to see how soon would consumers actually take the trouble to cancel the Premium Device Protection Plus service after signing up for it. I am quite sure that T-Mobile is going to bank on the wonders of procrastination in order to net some more profit along the way.

What kind of method will T-Mobile provide in order to pay off your contract with Verizon? T-Mobile will offer a digital prepaid MasterCard, in which T-Mobile claims that the payoff will actually arrive some time within 15 days of making the switch. With Verizon’s customers being the main target here with such an offer, what about those who are currently with AT&T and Sprint? T-Mobile has certainly not forgotten about them, although the incentives offered by T-Mobile is not exactly out of the box. The payoff will only involve the device and early termination fees for customers from AT&T and Sprint, but with the condition that they will finance a whole new device with T-Mobile. At the very least, there is no need for a trade-in at all, and T-Mobile will also dangle the same carrot of a quicker payout of early termination fees.

What do you think of such a move by T-Mobile? Will it make the mobile carrier landscape all the more competitive, or is this kind of ‘sheep stealing’ frowned upon? I say may the best telco company win. After all, there are pros and cons to each telco company, which only the consumer is able to weigh and make the final decision based on the situation at hand. Having the cheapest mobile plan does not automatically translate to owning the largest market share in the process, but if you are one who would like to have an unlimited data plan, then T-Mobile is right up your alley. Otherwise, Verizon has its allure with a very affordable 5GB data plan -- something to weigh if you know that your monthly data consumption is far from ever touching the 5GB mark. Do bear in mind that this should be a limited time offer since we do know that the start date is May 31, with no specified end date for the campaign.

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