T-Mobile US is set to counter recent rate plan moves by rivals through an update of its JUMP device payment plan, according to published reports. The changes, which are set to take effect Feb. 23, will see the carrier allow for more frequent device upgrades as well as add tablet devices to the mix.
The new upgrade policy will allow customers to receive a new device anytime they want to as long as the customer has 50% of their current device paid for and trade in that device. The initial JUMP offer, which was launched last July, allowed customers to pay an extra $10 per month for the ability to upgrade to a new device up to twice per year. The first upgrade had to be after six months of enrollment in the program and required that customers trade in their old device in “good working condition.” Customers would then be able to select a new device through the carrier’s equipment installment program at the non-subsidized price T-Mobile US offers to new customers, with the remaining balance on the old device is eliminated.
A number of T-Mobile US’ rivals followed the carrier down the device payment road through various plans, including AT&T Mobility’s Next program; Verizon Wireless’ Edge; and Sprint’s One Up, that has since been replaced with its Easy Pay plan.
With the new update, T-Mobile US is also set to add tablet devices to the JUMP mix. The carrier last October made a big splash with tablet devices as part of its “un-carrier” marketing initiative, by allowing customers to make monthly payments on tablet devices. That deal also provided customers that purchased a tablet or brought one to the carrier with 200 megabytes of data over the carrier’s LTE network for free each month.
At that time, T-Mobile US did not provide tablet devices with access to the JUMP program, instead tablet customers were allowed to trade in any tablet device for a credit towards a tablet offered by T-Mobile US.
The country’s nationwide operators have spent the first month-and-a-half of 2014 rolling out various new pricing schemes. Verizon Wireless last week updated its mobile share plans; AT&T Mobility made changes to its Share Everything plans; and Sprint rolled out its Framily plans.
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