Suspicious-Teach8788
Lifer
- Feb 19, 2001
- 20,155
- 23
- 81
http://arstechnica.com/information-...mping-verizon-for-t-mobile-would-cost-me-150/
Interesting read on the T-Mobile offer using his specific situation which is not uncommon.
The key is that if you buy top-end phones and you upgrade every two years on the dot, T-Mobile doesn't save you any money. The only benefit you get at that point is the freedom to leave any time you wish. All they do is get rid of the subsidy and contract and show you the real cost of your devices.
If you want unlimited data or a family plan they certainly do save you money.
All they do is get rid of the subsidy and contract and show you the real cost of your devices.
Yes on the unlimited, the family it depends on what you consider measurable savings. If we assume each user consumes 2GB/month of bandwidth, a family of three will spend $200/month on ATT. On T-Mobile with $450 phones, that same family will spend $176/month. A savings ($24/month), sure, but not a huge difference. On a 5 person plan, the ATT family will spend $300 while on T-Mobile it's $254. A bigger savings in the aggregate, but not much different per user ($8 vs. $9/month/person). The differences are roughly the same if we assume 500MB data usage.
By getting $200 phones instead of a $450 ones, though, the T-Mobile user can double that margin of savings because the AT&T user is essentially forced to pay $450 every two years for their phones.
The key is that if you buy top-end phones and you upgrade every two years on the dot, T-Mobile doesn't save you any money. The only benefit you get at that point is the freedom to leave any time you wish. All they do is get rid of the subsidy and contract and show you the real cost of your devices.
I seriously hope T-Mobile doesn't become another Sprint.
That would be the end of the American telecommunications industry if it ever happens.
T-Mobile must stay American.
Sure... American... Right...
So if T-Mobile isn't American, what is it?