Yesterday was a sad day for a lot of long-time T-Mobile subscribers, many of whom are (once again) threatening to leave the "Un-carrier" over its far too frequent (and occasionally sneaky) price hikes, security breaches, and now, the death of tax-inclusive plans.
But while there are certainly cheaper (and, some would argue, more honest) options to consider for customers who are truly serious about their operator-switching intentions, I will probably shock you today by playing devil's advocate and recommending you take a deep breath before doing something you might end up regretting in the long run.
Is the "Un-carrier" dead and buried?
Maybe. Probably. Almost definitely. After all, that was little more than a marketing label and a carefully maintained illusion at its core, and if so many people refuse to buy into the fantasy of this trend-defying wireless industry maverick nowadays, T-Mo might as well retire that nickname altogether and embrace its more truthful identity of a mobile network operator like everyone else in the business.
By the way, what all those consumers voicing their outrage and frustration on Reddit and other such places seem to naively overlook is that T-Mobile (or rather parent company Deutsche Telekom) is running a business. The main purpose of any business is to make money, and as hard as you'd try to convince yourself that the "Un-carrier" initiative had this noble goal of revolutionizing the industry as it was known more than a decade ago, the reality is clearly different.
The Un-carrier is basically just a regular carrier now, but that's not as bad as it sounds. | Image Credit -- T-Mobile
T-Mo needed you to believe it was not like "Dumb & Dumber" to stay in business at a very difficult time, and after weathering the storm and turning a hefty profit for the last few years, that marketing strategy is no longer needed. It may sound cynical... to those of you who think Santa Claus is real, but even if that's the case, there's nothing you can do to change Magenta's general new direction.
T-Mobile seems perfectly happy to be only slightly better than Verizon and AT&T... as long as it continues to boost its customer figures (by any means necessary) while the competition bleeds subscribers at a shocking pace. You can complain, file class action lawsuits, and find whatever clever "Un-carrier" replacements you want, because at the end of the day, most of you will likely choose to stay put anyway for a number of rather simple reasons.
Five years is better than three and 250GB beats 200GB
If the battle for US market supremacy between T-Mobile and Verizon was a 12-round boxing match, Big Red essentially knocked down its opponent twice with the recent introduction of a three-year price lock guarantee and a couple of discreet but important upgrades to the Unlimited Ultimate plan before Magenta pulled off a spectacular KO victory ahead of the final bell.
While a rematch is likely to follow soon, the neat chart below makes it pretty clear that T-Mo remains the nation's heavyweight champion of unlimited wireless plans... for the time being. Is it disappointing to see its Price Lock program retired with basically no advance notice and not even a quick mention in yesterday's Experience More and Experience Beyond announcement? Absolutely.
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The differences are subtler than ever, but T-Mobile's best plan remains (marginally) better than Verizon and AT&T's top unlimited options. | Image Credit -- T-Mobile
But five years is a long time, and although it currently feels safe to assume that T-Mobile's new plans will instantly become costlier at the end of that period, the industry's constantly shifting dynamics could put the "Un-carrier" in a position where it can't afford to do that and enrage its customers half a decade down the line.
Seeing T-Mo's priciest new plans no longer include all taxes and fees is even more disappointing, nay, frustrating, but in a (twisted) way, that suggests (to me, at least) that the operator may have learned a valuable lesson in honesty these past couple of years.
I don't know about you, but I'd rather be aware from the get-go of the possibility that my monthly bill could increase than be ambushed by a price hike I previously thought was out of the question due to a vague marketing promise with a bunch of asterisks next to it.
Perhaps more importantly, the fact that T-Mobile reacted so quickly to Verizon's three-year price lock and 200GB high-speed mobile hotspot data upgrade to nip any competitive advantage Big Red might have had in the bud tells me the "Un-carrier" is not really dead, just dormant. All we need is a big push from Verizon and AT&T, and the war between the three will heat up again.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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