T-Mobile Uncarrier?

[lopri]

Does anyone know how this is going to work? It's supposed to roll out next week. I've also heard that T-Mobile is going to start servicing LTE very shortly, although my Nexus 4 won't benefit from it.

I've read this and this, and still not sure about the details. Pricing isn't too different than current plans except that the data price is going down. (current approx. $10 for 1 GB to $10 for 2 GB, plus 500 MB comes default with every plan) 2 GB for $10 sounds reasonable enough as long as speed is competitive.

What I am not understanding is why/how pre-paid plans are cheaper than post-paid plans. Is it because of device subsidy? But afaik pre-paid plans apply to phones already paid for as well as subsidized phones.

Also, T-Mobile has 1) Post-paid, 2) Pre-paid, and 3) Value plans. The difference between post- and pre- paid plans are self-explanatory. What of Value plans, though? Are there quality difference, or some special eligibility requirements?

 

[vshah]

i think basically classic post-paid (with device dubsidies)is going away. now there will just be value post-paid plans and pre-paid plans.

i switched from a classic post-paid to a value plan late last year, saving myself over $100 a month in the process. no change in service level.

 

[dagamer34]

I'm just waiting to see if the $30/month plan gets me LTE.

 

[vshah]

i'm pretty sure they've stated in the past that LTE will be available on all data plans from the get go - that they wouldn't be charging extra for it. of course that was before uncarrier. but if history is to be believed - they never charged extra for edge, hspa 3g, hspa+ 3g, or dc-hspa+ "4g" - I think they won't charge extra for LTE either.

 

[Muyoso]

although my Nexus 4 won't benefit from it.

Hmm. My Nexus 4 sure is waiting for Tmobile LTE. . . . Seriously can't wait.

 

[tdawg]

I'm just waiting to see if the $30/month plan gets me LTE.

I'm on the $30 / mo plan and just got the 4.1.2 update to my Note 2 that supposedly activated LTE functionality on the phone. This morning I noticed my 4G icon has changed and the data speed seems to have increased. Haven't run a speedtest.net test yet, but will soon.

 

[Bateluer]

I'm on the $30 / mo plan and just got the 4.1.2 update to my Note 2 that supposedly activated LTE functionality on the phone. This morning I noticed my 4G icon has changed and the data speed seems to have increased. Haven't run a speedtest.net test yet, but will soon.

Did the basebands change on the phone?

 

[ImDonly1]

The postpaid uncarrier plans are the new plans offered directly by t-mobile.
The prepaid plans don't have roaming, so they are cheaper?

The classic plans will only be available from 3rd party dealers (non-corporate t-mobile stores, walmart, target, etc.) because they don't have a system for financing yet or something.
Read more about it here
http://www.tmonews.com/2013/03/t-mo...-classic-available-at-all-national-resellers/

While T-Mobile’s corporate owned retail stores will go live with a Value Plan only environment on March 24th, National Retailers are launching a total revamp of the company’s Classic Plans. Why two sets of rate plans you ask? The simple answer is that T-Mobile’s national retailers like Target, Walmart and Best Buy can’t support the Value Plan structure of commissions paid out by the carrier. In the cases of corporate stores where T-Mobile owns the inventory, it’s ok to offer a down payment in store and have the rest billed out to the customer.

Fyi, you can get LTE on the nexus 4 still if you flash the older radio.

 

[lothar]

The whole thing is still confusing to me.
a.) What's the difference between the UNcarrier and the Value plan? Are they the same thing? Or are they different? We want whatever plan it is that allow us to bring our own phones.
b.) Would those 10-15% T-Mobile discounts work with this new plan(s)?

Basically, I'm trying to set this up for us to see how much it would cost:
1.) Lothar's phone: 2GB data.
2.) Lothar's Mom: 500MB data.
3.) Lothar's Brother I: 2GB data.
4.) Lothar's Brother II: ZERO data.

 

[acx]

Sounds like all plans get unlimited minutes, text, and data with 500MB of 4G data for a base price. You pay more for different amounts of 4G data access.

Value plan is now no contract base $50.

+$30 for a family line
+$10 for each additional line

+$10 for each 2GB of 4G data with 4G tethering for each line
or
+$20 for unlimited 4G data and 500 MB 4G tethering (+$10 for each additional 2GB of 4G tethering) for each line

I'm assuming no corporate discounts because Value plan is no contract.

For lothar:

1) $50+$10= $60
2) +$30
3) +$10+$10
4) +$10

Total = $120.

 

[dagamer34]

Sounds like all plans get unlimited minutes, text, and data with 500MB of 4G data for a base price. You pay more for different amounts of 4G data access.

Value plan is now no contract base $50.

+$30 for a family line
+$10 for each additional line

+$10 for each 2GB of 4G data with 4G tethering for each line
or
+$20 for unlimited 4G data and 500 MB 4G tethering (+$10 for each additional 2GB of 4G tethering) for each line

I'm assuming no corporate discounts because Value plan is no contract.

For lothar:

1) $50+$10= $60
2) +$30
3) +$10+$10
4) +$10

Total = $120.

Is data shared with these plans or no?

 

[acx]

Is data shared with these plans or no?

It looks like data is per line and not shared.

Here's the photo of their new no contract value plan brochure:

http://www.tmonews.com/2013/03/new-...res-begin-arriving-in-t-mobile-retail-stores/

 

[lothar]

Sounds like all plans get unlimited minutes, text, and data with 500MB of 4G data for a base price. You pay more for different amounts of 4G data access.

Value plan is now no contract base $50.

+$30 for a family line
+$10 for each additional line

+$10 for each 2GB of 4G data with 4G tethering for each line
or
+$20 for unlimited 4G data and 500 MB 4G tethering (+$10 for each additional 2GB of 4G tethering) for each line

I'm assuming no corporate discounts because Value plan is no contract.

For lothar:

1) $50+$10= $60
2) +$30
3) +$10+$10
4) +$10

Total = $120.

If true, then this is a blow.
With current Value plans today, you can use corporate discounts.
http://slickdeals.net/f/5036672-T-mobile-12-or-10-off-total-bill

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Packages/ValuePackages.aspx
The same plan today costs $104.98/month, and that is before the 10-15% discounts anyone can signup for by being a member of some "passive" association.

 

[lothar]

Is data shared with these plans or no?

T-Mobile is not adopting shared data plans...unlike AT&T and Verizon which are.

 

[ImDonly1]

Value plans = uncarrier plans.

 

[ponyo]

For my wife and I, this new T-Mobile plan is worse than the AT&T family plan. T-Mobile plan is $100 plus tax for 2.5gb each. AT&T is $120 plus tax for 3gb each. Extra $480 for 2 years is worth it for AT&T since the wife and I can get subsidized phones.

 

[ImDonly1]

For my wife and I, this new T-Mobile plan is worse than the AT&T family plan. T-Mobile plan is $100 plus tax for 2.5gb each. AT&T is $120 plus tax for 3gb each. Extra $480 for 2 years is worth it for AT&T since the wife and I can get subsidized phones.

Prepaid is still a better value than these plans.

Also you said you are getting 3GB each on 2 lines on ATT for $120, that can't be right. I just checked and you can only get that if you get 550 minute shared plan with no text plan. That isn't really a direct comparison to the t-mobile unlimited talk, text, and 2.5GB of data plan. If you were to add unlimited texting to you ATT plan it would be +$30 more ($150/mo) and you would still have 550 minutes vs unlimited on t-mobile. ATT and VZW can't really compete price-wise with t-mobile if you were to price a similar plan.

 

[ponyo]

Prepaid is still a better value than these plans.

Also you said you are getting 3GB each on 2 lines on ATT for $120, that can't be right. I just checked and you can only get that if you get 550 minute shared plan with no text plan. That isn't really a direct comparison to the t-mobile unlimited talk, text, and 2.5GB of data plan. If you were to add unlimited texting to you ATT plan it would be +$30 more ($150/mo) and you would still have 550 minutes vs unlimited on t-mobile. ATT and VZW can't really compete price-wise with t-mobile if you were to price a similar plan.

We're on prepaid. I pay less than $90 each month on Straight Talk. AT&T is $120 because we don't need more than 550 minutes because of free mobile to mobile and nights and weekends. We also don't need paid texting because we use free Google Voice. We use Google Voice now even with Straight Talk. Having all texts I can access from any device backed up to Google Cloud automatically is so convenient. Add in subsidized phones and LTE, AT&T is better value for us than T-Mobile. My wife wants the Note 3 and I want the S4 so we might sign the contract with AT&T later this year.

 

[lothar]

Prepaid is still a better value than these plans.

Also you said you are getting 3GB each on 2 lines on ATT for $120, that can't be right. I just checked and you can only get that if you get 550 minute shared plan with no text plan. That isn't really a direct comparison to the t-mobile unlimited talk, text, and 2.5GB of data plan. If you were to add unlimited texting to you ATT plan it would be +$30 more ($150/mo) and you would still have 550 minutes vs unlimited on t-mobile. ATT and VZW can't really compete price-wise with t-mobile if you were to price a similar plan.

I'm guessing he uses Google Voice just like I do, which makes having a "texting" plan completely irrelevant.
"Unlimited SMS texts" on cellphone plans are nothing but a sham if you have Google Voice, Google Talk, iMessage, WhatsApp, etc...
"Unlimited minutes" on cellphone plans are also a sham due to "free mobile to mobile" and "free nights and weekends".

It doesn't matter. The point is that these plans doesn't give much options. You have to get UNlimited minutes and texts with it.
If all you need is 500 minutes, zero texts, and 2GB data; and the lowest post-paid plan that T-Mobile will offer is UNlimited everything except data then it IS a valid comparison.
For my scenario of 4 phones for my family, I only need 1,000-1,500 minutes max. I don't need unlimited minutes or text.

 

[lopri]

The postpaid uncarrier plans are the new plans offered directly by t-mobile.
The prepaid plans don't have roaming, so they are cheaper?

The classic plans will only be available from 3rd party dealers (non-corporate t-mobile stores, walmart, target, etc.) because they don't have a system for financing yet or something.
Read more about it here
http://www.tmonews.com/2013/03/t-mo...-classic-available-at-all-national-resellers/


Fyi, you can get LTE on the nexus 4 still if you flash the older radio.

Hmm.. So Value plan = Uncarrier Plan = BYOD/no subsidized phones? And post-paid has roaming while pre-paid doesn't. Post-paid also has family plan but pre-paid doesn't. Am I correct?

Oh and is it true that you can flash back the Nexus 4 to older Android version for LTE..? Can anyone verify? Preferably on T-Mobile.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

T-Mobile sucks. Horrible network and almost Comcast-bad customer service. If you do use them just hope you never have a problem with them.

 

[lopri]

Hey, that largely depends on where you are or who you happen to deal with. I have been satisfied with their services so far. They give out SIMs for free (or for $.99), and have more consumer-friendly plans. I've just got 2 more micro-SIM activation kits delivered, free.

 

[vshah]

T-Mobile sucks. Horrible network and almost Comcast-bad customer service. If you do use them just hope you never have a problem with them.

have been with them since they were voicestream and i've never had a bad experience. I pay for a verizon hotspot with the $ i save on my tmo phone plan, and I still come out ahead.

 

[Munky]

Considering I've been buying unlocked phones and using them on a T-mobile plan without contract for years, this is a good direction IMO.

 

[basslover1]

The Value plans they offer now are still contract plans, they just lack the phone subsidy you'd get elsewhere. They do offer financing on these plans if you want a new phone, that's how I got my mom's phone it was 99 down then 15 a month for 18 months. Even with the 15 a month for the phone I still save $25+ over what I was paying with Verizon.