T-Mobile Three-Year Installment Plan Is Coming Soon

24 months is almost like a sacred number in the mobile industry. It's how long a standard carrier line contract lasts and, consequently, how long you have to pay for the device in installment chunks. It has also become the standard period for warranties and software updates and support. T-Mobile, which always prides itself as the "Un-carrier" might be working to change that game soon. Based on its website, it might start to offer installment plans that will take you three years to pay off instead of just two.

It might be a two-edged sword, depending on how you look at it. Some carriers have already started offering 30-month contracts, basically two and a half years, and some regulators are raising eyebrows at the extended lock-in period. But, then again, it's not like this 36-month plan won't benefit the consumer to some extent.

As TmoNews notes, smartphone have gotten a lot more expensive than they have been even just two years ago. Last year marked the time when prices entered four digits. As such, dividing $1,000 into 12 monthly payments no longer has the same appeal had the price been, say, just $750 to $800. And that perception is something T-Mobile is working to change.

The new Equipment Installment Plan (EIP) has popped up on the carrier's page for the Galaxy Note 9. With that arrangement, subscribers would only pay $24.17 per month for 36 months. With the usual 24-month period, they'd be billed $36.25 for the $870 phablet.

The new EIP arrangement has so far not appeared on any other T-Mobile smartphone. The fact that it's there for everyone to see hints that the carrier is close to formally announcing it. Perhaps it's just waiting for more expensive smartphones before it does.