SlashGear Japan
T-Mobile’s Project Dark still has the rumor-gibbons babbling, and so we’re pleased to see what look like hard numbers to go along with the speculation. According to TmoNews, you’re looking at leaked price plan details for T-Mobile USA’s upcoming tariff refresh, which detail a number of new contract and non-contract plans all of which have free nationwide T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile calling and free nights/weekends.
The plans offer various mixtures of unlimited talktime, text messaging and internet access, and compare reasonably well to what’s on offer from other carriers in the US. Unlimited non-smartphone web access is a $10 add-on (smartphone web access is three times that amount), while for $79.99 you can have unlimited talk/text/web with no annual contract.
So far there’s no official comment from T-Mobile themselves, but these leaked images certainly look reasonably official and we can’t really imagine anybody going to the effort of mocking them up. We’re standing by our assertion that Project Dark isn’t the huge industry shake-up it’s been tipped to be, but we won’t argue with saving some money on cellphone bills.
6 Responses to “T-Mobile Project Dark price plans leak”
The blue one is the no contract plans, and the pink one is the contract based plans; it’s unlimited everthing for 79.99 with a contract. 99.99 for everything without a contract. I agree, it’s not a huge shake up, but it’ll save you some money! 40 bucks for me…..
NeutralI think you must have not seen the photos… According to the photos and the rumor, in this “rumor” the contract plans are 99.99, and the no contract plans are 79.99
On the surface this would seem like the reverse, why pay more WITH a contract?
Answer, you aren’t getting anything for free. In this “rumor” T-Mobile wouldn’t have to front you a free phone because you are buying it for full price, therfore they wouldn’t need to recoup any losses.
That said, it proves that nothing is free, it shows that the carriers charge you extra anyways to get their money back plus some. Carriers make on average 60 dollars POSITIVE revenue in the first year of service even AFTER GIVING you a free phone, and after costs to maintain network, customer care, etc.
But you can still save some money by signing a contract, doesn’t look like it but you can. For example if you get a Blackberry 8900 from Best Buy Mobile on a contract, right now it is 49.99 out the door. That means for the cost of the phone up front, and your service for about 2 years would cost you $2449.75.
Now if you buy the same phone at the same store FULL PRICE NO CONTRACT, you pay full retail of 649.99, plus the 79.99 discounted price for about 2 years or so, your ACTUAL total is 2569.75.
Meaning you SPENT 120 dollars EXTRA on the lower rate, no contract plan. So basically in this scenario, you would theoretically save 120 dollars if you signed a contract. In my guess, if this “rumor” is true, my understanding is T-Mobile wants you to see the lower rate plan, pay full price for the phone, and go no contract so they don’t have to keep giving you 120 dollars every couple years. 120 dollars times their subscriber base is 3,840,000,000 BILLION DOLLARS. That is a lot of savings….
So no, the contract plan is MORE EXPENSIVE, the no contract plan is LESS EXPENSIVE.
That is, according to this rumor displayed here.
*All ideas, thoughts, scenarios posted on this comment, are theoretical and only in relation to the ideas and photographs maintained in this post which is classified as a rumor. No outside information was used to manufacter this post, other than what is obtained within this web url.
-1On a side note to Slashgear. If any of the announced news is related to Project Dark, how you can say it’s anything but a shake up is beyond me.
The speeds in T-Mobile’s Philadelphia HSPA+ network are already outpreforming Sprint’s 4G network, even Sprint’s PEAK SPEEDS, USING NON HSPA+ DEDICATED phones. Also the mere fact that T-Mobile has been capturing exclusive phones, and great models like the HTC HD2, N900, Behold II, Cliq, just to name a few shows how agressive T-mobile is being with getting the phones people want.
And finally downplaying this this as being unsensational? Even though it is a “rumor” anybody should be excited if this were to ever become real.
Think about the scenario of getting a HTC HD2, for unlimited everything 79.99 a month, no contract, and not having to front 900 dollars the first day, but rather only 199 like most other phones?
Are you serious?
Europe has the best phones and best networks because they make more money to invest in them because they don’t have the silly contract set up we have in the United States. They don’t ever have to give money away over there (I understand they have contracts, but that is a very slim pie of their industry which has INSANE compeition with over 30 carriers, which helps bring down costs, not to mention they built their infastructure on the no-contract business model and introduced it later over a STRONG foundation.)
In the US, carriers are short changing themselves by taking losses on the phones, albeit for a short period, they eventually gain it back, but still. Think about potential company that didn’t have any money to write off the books. They made money on the phone when they sold it, and they made money on the plans when the people use them. All from day 1. Constant positive revenue, no climbing back up the ladder to get that profit, only to see the person jump carriers after 2 years. Yeah you made the money back, but you made less money over 2 years than a carrier that doesn’t have to write off anything in the first place.
Yeah, you are welcome.
NeutralChris Davies October 23, 2009
Hi Michael,
Thanks for taking the time to comment, and for putting such effort into your replies! Your analysis of the US pricing market is interesting, not least because I’m actually UK-based and have been teasing the US members of the SG team about their shoddy network pricing for years now. Perhaps that’s led me to underestimate the potential impact T-Mo’s pricing changes might have (assuming all this is authentic).
While no-contract models are certainly more common over here in Europe, there’s still a strong emphasis on contract sales. If I recall correctly, the first of the pre-pay offerings started showing up roughly twelve years ago, and after a slow-ish start (the early handsets were cheap and not especially attractive, compared to what contracts were offering) gained traction with entry-level but fashionable Nokia devices (this was the time of the interchangeable covers, which captured a lot of the youth market). Interestingly, as pre-pay has been taking off over more recent years, the standard contract length in Europe has generally extended to reach some degree of parity with the situation in the US. A few years back, a 12 month contract was normal and 18 month unusual; now 18 month is the usual, and networks are offering 24-month deals in the hope of tying subscribers in. From a personal point of view, I think that’s one bad aspect that has traveled over from the US to here, but I also recognise that it’s a side-effect of European customers expecting “free” phones while hardware has gotten more complex and more expensive.
If you want a high-end device in the UK and across Europe, contract is usually the easiest way to get it (and, initially at least, often the only way to get it). Greater familiarity with swapping SIM cards (and a network that doesn’t have to contend with CDMA/GSM confusion) means that users are more comfortable with picking up unlocked devices and paying sticker price for them rather than trying to factor in a subsidy. Saying there are over 30 carriers is a little misleading; in the UK, for instance, there are four main networks and a handful of MVNOs trying to carve out their own niches, and that competition has made it one of the most progressive areas for getting “the best deal”. Anecdotally, it seems like there’s more appreciation for flexibility in the European markets: recognising that some people want lots of texts and unlimited data, but make very few voice calls, or that others want unlimited calls and don’t really care about messaging, etc. The US market seems to prefer pushing “everything in” unlimited plans, which are expensive and don’t necessarily cater to each user’s individual preferences. T-Mo’s “project dark” plans do, at least, seem like a move toward the European model in that respect, which I think is a good thing.
I’m no expert, and I don’t claim to be. I’m just an enthusiast (some would say a phone-obsessive!) and thanks to my job I get to look at the differences between the US and European systems. I think both can learn from the other in different ways, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Chris
NeutralI see what I overlooked now, but it hardly makes sense that they would make you pay more for entering into a contract with them…
+1The reason I say this is because you hardly ever have to pay retail with eBay, craigslist, and other such bargaining sites. where you can purchase these phones at well below retail. Many people aren’t willing to pay that given price tag at the store, and unless they’re forcing you to buy their phone, or not have their service, I don’t see the company benefiting from handset sales.
Neutral