U.S. consumers will have a new affordable, unrestricted and hassle-free way to buy an iPhone 5 when T-Mobile USA, Inc. begins offering the revolutionary phone on Friday, April 12.
T-Mobile announced today that qualifying customers can get an iPhone 5 for $99.99 down, plus monthly payments. T-Mobile is the only major U.S. wireless company to offer iPhone 5 with no annual service contract plus unlimited talk, text and Web on a screaming-fast nationwide 4G network. And because there are no annual contracts, customers make the decision when to upgrade their devices — not the carrier.
“This is an important day for people who love their iPhonebut can’t stand the pain other carriers put them through to own one,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA, in the press release. “We feel their pain. I’ve felt the pain. So we’re rewriting the rules of wireless to provide a radically simple, affordable iPhone 5 experience — on an extremely powerful network.”
iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning 4-inch Retina display, an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance and ultrafast wireless technology — all while delivering even better battery life. iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features, including Shared Photo Streams, Facebook integration, all-new Maps app and Passbook organization, and even more Siri features and languages.
With compatibility on T-Mobile’s 4G network, iPhone 5 customers will enjoy a consistently outstanding wireless experience, seamlessly connecting to both T-Mobile’s existing nationwide 4G and growing 4G LTE networks. Today, the company launched 4G LTE service in seven major metropolitan areas, including Baltimore; Houston; Kansas City; Las Vegas; Phoenix; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C. T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network is expected to reach 100 million people by mid-year and 200 million nationwide by the end of 2013. The company’s 4G HSPA+ network reaches 225 million people in 229 metropolitan areas.
In addition to a great 4G network experience, T-Mobile offers iPhone 5 customers one of the simplest and most competitive consumer rate plans in the industry. Rather than providing a dizzying number of consumer rate plans, T-Mobile is offering iPhone 5 with just one.
T-Mobile’s new Simple Choice Plan starts with a base rate of $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and Web with 500MB of 4G data.3 Consumers can add 2GB of 4G data for $10 per month per line or get unlimited 4G data for an additional $20 per month per line. Customers can add a second phone line for $30 per month, and each additional line is just $10 per month. There are no caps and no overages.
Additional Benefits
In addition to the Simple Choice Plan’s reasonable terms and powerful nationwide network, iPhone 5 customers can take advantage of several free premium benefits from T-Mobile, including:
• HD Voice – delivering nationwide crystal-clear high-definition calling and significantly reduced background noise. T-Mobile is the only U.S. carrier offering nationwide HD Voice for iPhone 5.
• T-Mobile Smartphone Mobile HotSpot for on-the-go tethering Internet access. Through Simple Choice, T-Mobile offers an additional 500MB of 4G data for tethering, enabling customers to tether from their iPads, Macs and other devices.
• Talk and surf at the same time — without limits. Through T-Mobile’s Simple Choice Plan, customers can opt for totally unlimited 4G data on a nationwide network, something no other major U.S. wireless company offers for iPhone 5.
Pricing & Availability
iPhone 5 will be available for qualifying customers with T-Mobile’s Simple Choice Plan for $99.99 down and $20 per month for 24 months. Qualifying customers can get iPhone 4S through the Simple Choice Plan for $69.99 down and $20 per month for 24 months. iPhone 4 will be available for qualifying customers through the Simple Choice Plan for $14.99 down and $15 per month for 24 months. Financing is available on approval of credit online and in participating locations. iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 will be available in select markets. iPhone 5 will be available nationwide on Friday, April 12, at T-Mobile retail stores and through select dealers and national retail stores, as well as online at http://www.T-Mobile.com. Customers can pre-order iPhone 5 beginning Friday, April 5. For more information, visit the pre-registration page.
Source: T-Mobile USA
ebay fire-sale in 5…4…3…2…
I guess I got lucky selling in January, but prices are falling for used iPhones. And this isn’t going to help.
Now everyone is going to have to sell their used phones to Russia. What a pain.
Uuuuh… No.
Read the fine print, it’s $99, $70, and $15 —DOWN— with a monthly payment in addition to the service plans.
It’s simply a financing plan, though arguably more flexible than other carriers because with the others it’s built into the plan so your bill doesn’t drop once the subsidy is paid. The only people those plans (subsidized) work for is people who want new phones every year or two (or three, if you’re Canadian, eh?)
The service options seem more than competitive and may force the “big two” carriers down a bit. But lets’s not kid ourselves, T-mobiles network speed nor coverage is nowhere close to AT&T & Verizons.
Still, glad to see them get the iPhones, it may stem their current downward spiral.
Yes, this headline is very deceptive.
???
Why would anyone bother selling on eBay now? What exactly would compel them? If you had an iPhone with another carrier before, you could keep it and use it with this T-Mobile plan, as long as you paid it off. Nothing prevented people from selling on Ebay before, when they became eligible for an upgrade.
“$99.99 down, plus monthly payments”
So it’s basically like a contract, but structured more transparently.
But hey, that’s cool! No contract, but rather an easily understood payment plan. Sounds like improvement.
Except, after 24 months, the phone is paid off and your monthly expenditures go down. I hope all of the carriers feel compelled to change to this pricing model.
I haven’t seen the small print, but as you say it’s a payment plan, but unlike most phone contracts, at the end of the payment plan you stop paying ( and only need to pay for a wireless service ), but with a monthly contract, your payment usually stays the same indefinitely. You can upgrade to a newer phone at the end of the contract, but will need to sign a new contract and maybe pay a higher monthly charge too.
For many customers, T-Mobile’s deal is a better prospect, particularly if you’re buying a quality phone like an iPhone as once you’ve paid the instalments on the phone, it’s yours and you only need to pay for the service from then on.
Having said that, to a UK customer, the service charge looks a bit high, but it is unlimited speech, text and 3G data, so if you use a lot, it’s not so bad, but for lighter users, it seems rather expensive. Here in the UK I’m only paying about US $15 for 250 mins, unlimited texts and 1GB of 3G data and I rarely use that much in a month anyway.
This is a worse deal than Verizon gives (for my usage, at least).
Still waiting for plans which don’t require unlimited minutes and texts …
You may want to look into T-Mobile’s $30 per month web-only deal with some 150 minutes and unlimited data.
That is not quite correct. Verizon’s prepaid plan with same offerings (unlimited all, throttling beyond 500MB) is $60, whereas T-Mobile charges $50 for the same service. More importantly, Verizon has no prepaid family offerings, while with T-Mobile, family of four gets unlimited all (with 500MB throttling limit) for $100, which is at least 50% cheaper than all other plans.
This is by far the best deal for the iPhone 5, as it is the cheapest. For other models, not necessarily so good.
iPhone 5 retails for $650. T-Mobile is giving it to you for $580 (24×20+100), and they are even spreading the cost over two years, interest-free! Compare that to the standard carrier plans, which have $450 subsidy (spread over two years, making it around $18 per month), plus $200 upfront. In addition to being cheaper by $70 with T-Mobile, when you pay the phone off, you paid it off. With the two-year contract, if you don’t immediately upgrade to a newer phone, you continue to pay that monthly subsidy, even though your phone has been paid off long ago. Let us not forget the difference in plan cost, which is definitely greater than $18 (the subsidy portion).
Let us see how many people are actually going to recognise how incredibly attractive this T-Mobile offer is.
I can’t get good T-Mobile coverage in my area, so I’ll have to sit on the sidelines and watch how this unfolds. I hope it will work out well.
Anyone looking for a “free” iPhone 5 is going to be sorely disappointed they still have to pay for it . . . of course they weren’t thinking things through with their current plan anyway.
Here’s one thing it will do. It might just see more people using their “old” iPhone longer. I’m on Verizon (the only company that has decent range in my area, honestly), and it’s stupid not to get the latest phone as soon as you can since the price doesn’t drop after your commitment is up. If my price were to drop by $20 per month, maaaaybe I’d keep it for a few extra months (probably not because I want the latest one).
One other thought: Will it harm iPhone sales because Android phones might be cheaper? Won’t cause any of us to switch, but then again we’re much more tech literate than a lot of people.
It will be interesting to see how this ripples through the industry.
And Apple stock goes down with the announcement!!
The only real question is the quality of the network & coverage. I’m with AT&T now but will look into this.
These prices are great, especially for families. Now I just have to wait for T-Mobile to offer HSPA+ at 1900 MHz and/or LTE in my area.
I *hate* slow data on my iPhone. AT&T service has been spotty for me lately, and I’m looking to switch, but I’m not going to switch to T-Mobile if it’s on Edge.
Also, does anyone know if the iPhone is unlocked when you buy it through T-Mobile on a payment plan?
Hopefully T-Mobile’s service is improved. I got screwed once because their coverage map showed I had 4G and I didn’t. They gave zero back on their mobile device and then I had to pay a penalty for canceling their non-service. I too am going to wait on the sidelines and perhaps At&t will respond to this challenge.
Asswipe John Kerry announced he is both for and against this plan.
For unlimited, you are at $70 a month, plus, you are going to pay about $650 for the iPhone 5 over two years, about the time you are ready to get a new upgraded one.
The old saying “six of one, half a dozen of another”…it’s the same terrible bending over for the carriers, no matter which one you choose. It is a subscription service, whether you use it or not. You pay thru the nose any way you go.
AND, we that bought or have an un-locked iPhone 5 or an AT&T iPhone 5 WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF T-MOBILE’S existing 4G network… New model being engineered for T-Mobile only that leaves us out !!!!
COMPLETE BS !!!!!
Why do I care about Verizon’s 485 cities? I live in 1 city.
So the remaining question is: Where was the announcement for cellular iPad/iPad mini support??