Last month when T-Mobile announced its new UNcarrier pricing plans, it made a point of saying that national retailers do not have the capability to track Equipment Installment Plans. This meant that T-Mobile could either force customers purchasing one of their phones from Best Buy to shell out the full price of the phone, or pay a subsidized price with a 2 year contract. Not wanting to burden its customers, the nation's fourth largest carrier settled on the latter option.
Eventually, there will be a new pricing option made available for Best Buy that will be ready before the end of the big box retailer's current fiscal year. That would suggest that the new pricing plan would be in place before the end of February 2014. But for right now, a phone like T-Mobile's HTC Onewill cost $249.99 with a signed two-year pact at Best Buy and other national retailers. At T-Mobile corporate owned stores, you are asked to make a down payment of $99 and pay off the balance in 24 monthly installments of $20 each. And while you are not technically tied up with a two-year contract, your phone won't be unlocked until it is paid off.
The document does show that with the new pricing plan at T-Mobile corporate stores, over a two-year period you are still paying less for an unlimited data plan with the EIP pricing for an HTC One even though you are paying full price for the phone.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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